Official election results show several close races
After it was all said and done, Fayette County’s Democratic District Attorney Nancy D. Vernon defeated Republican attorney Ernest P. DeHaas 13,037 votes to 10,809 votes to become the next common pleas court judge for the county, according to official election results. The results, which were official earlier this week, showed no changes in winners, but did reveal some races were decided by only a few votes. Throughout the county, voters selected positions such as mayor, city council member, school director and township supervisor.
Although the municipal election was held more than a month ago, the official results were delayed after a statewide recount of the Superior Court race was ordered. Judge was the only contested countywide race.
The common pleas judge race occurred because President Judge Conrad B. Capuzzi is stepping down at the end of the year upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70. There are five common pleas judges in the county and the last time a new one was selected was eight years ago.
During the Nov. 3 municipal election, Vernon received 55 percent of the vote, compared to 45 percent for DeHaas, winning by 2,228 votes. However, the percentage of votes DeHaas received was much closer than the registration figures for the county.
There is nearly a 3 to 1 registration advantage of Democrats over Republicans, with 62,640 registered Democrats and 22,069 registered Republicans.
In a hotly contested mayor’s race in Brownsville, political newcomer Lester Ward defeated incumbent Lewis Hosler 353 votes to 340 votes. Before Ward was declared a winner, there was a recount of ballots cast in the borough’s three wards.
In another close mayoral race, Masontown’s Toni Petrus, daughter of former mayor Walter Scarton, defeated incumbent Tom Loukota with 352 to 297 votes in the borough’s two voting precincts.
In Ohiopyle, Republican Mark J. McCarty defeated Democrat Ricky A. Williams Jr. by six votes, 25 votes to 19 tallies. In another close mayor race, Democrat Ruth O. Shannon won the post by receiving 45 votes, with Timothy P. Shoemaker receiving 40 write-in votes.
In Uniontown, the final election results for the two-year term showed Democrat Philip J. Michael, who was appointed to City Council earlier this year but later stepped down amid accusations that he didn’t meet the residency requirement, defeating Republican Gary N. Altman with a tally of 917 to 801 votes.
For the two four-year terms, the two Democrat candidates Francis Joby Palumbo III and Gary Gearing received 937 and 933 votes, respectively, to obtain the two seats.
Final results showed Republicans Russ Rhodes and Curtis R. Sproul received 828 and 498 votes, respectively.
The final results of the winners in the school director races throughout the county are:
n Albert Gallatin, Edward F. Andria, 2,950 votes; Kenneth J. Plisko, 2,766 votes; Ed Sutton, 2,745 votes; and Bill Boni, 2,129 votes.
n Brownsville Area, Ron Dellarose, 1,695 votes; Andy Assad, 1,665 votes; Stella Broadwater, 1,483 votes; and Nena Kaminsky, 1,456 votes.
n Connellsville Area, Paul E. Means, Jr., 4,844 voters; Gary Wandel, 4,358 votes; Tom Dolde, 3,873 votes; and P.J. Carte, 3,169 votes.
n Frazier, John F. Strickler, 1,166 votes; Charles W. Bud Petrosky, 1,119 votes; Deborah Vargo Alekson, 1,099 votes; and David G. Simmons, 967 votes.
n Laurel Highlands, James Tobal, 3,346 votes; Bev Beal, 3,137 votes; Larry Zebley, 3,117 votes; and Edward S. George, 2,104 votes.
n Uniontown Area, Thomas Bill Gerke, 3,110 votes; Tom McCracken, 2,046 votes; Lloyd A. Williams, 1,971 votes; and Terry L. Dawson, 1,893 votes.
All the final results are available online at http://server.lcsys.net/vote/vote.asp?select=1.