May 16, 2007 By Jennifer Harr 3 min read

With 99 of 103 precincts reporting, less than 600 votes separated incumbent Fayette County controller Mark Roberts and his opponent, Sean Lally. Unofficial tallies of 96 percent of the votes cast had Lally with 8,051 votes to Roberts’ 7,577 votes.

While that race seemed too close to call at presstime, two other county row officers seemed to have bested their challengers, securing the Democratic nod for their respective offices.

Incumbents Sheriff Gary D. Brownfield and Clerk of Courts Janice Snyder were decisively ahead of their respective challengers, Robert “Ted” Pritchard and Gary K. Crozier. Brownfield had 12,349 votes to Pritchard’s 3,387 and Snyder had 10,072 votes to Crozier’s 5,646.

There are no Republicans running for any of the offices, so in securing the Democrat nomination, Brownfield and Snyder, and the winner of the controller’s race are virtually guaranteed victory in the November general election.

The totals are all unofficial until verified by the Fayette County Election Bureau.

The race between Roberts and Lally was hotly contested from the get-go. Roberts filed court papers to have Lally booted from the ballot, claiming there were flaws with his nomination petitions. The challenge failed at both the county and appellate court levels. Among Roberts’ claims were that many of the signatures were forgeries and the petitions were improperly circulated.

Roberts subpoenaed dozens of voters, angering some and prompting others to vow they would not again sign nominating petitions.

Lally, who owns a construction company and real estate rental business, said he would keep a close watch on county finances if elected and has criticized Roberts for not making sure bills are paid in a timely manner.

Brownfield, a law enforcement veteran, has been in office for two, four-year terms. Snyder has been the clerk of courts since 1992, and Roberts is also a two-term controller. This was Lally’s second run for political office, having lost to Snyder four years ago when he challenged her for the clerk position.

Crozier is a Uniontown councilman who said he wanted to move into a county position to make a bigger impact in government and Pritchard is a political newcomer.

The clerk of courts office deals primarily with the criminal dockets for the court of common pleas. Snyder was hired as an employee in the office in 1981, and has worked there since.

In running for sheriff, Pritchard claimed that Brownfield had done little with the office and should be policing the streets. Brownfield acknowledged that he has the authority to have deputies patrol the streets, but said it is a financially impossible to do so without putting a large tax burden on county taxpayers.

During his time in office, Brownfield started a search and rescue team and does numerous volunteer programs in the community.

Other row officers up for election this year ran unopposed. They are District Attorney Nancy D. Vernon, Prothonotary Lance Winterhalter, Register of Wills Donald Redman and Coroner Dr. Phillip E. Reilly.