Nov 3, 2009 By Mark O'Keefe 3 min read

Voters going to the polls today will be taking part in what’s commonly called an “off-year election.” It’s called that because voters won’t be electing a president, a senator or even a governor.

However, it’s anything but an “off-year” for the thousands of candidates competing in local races across the commonwealth. And it’s no different in Fayette, Greene and Washington counties, where hundreds of candidates are battling for numerous local offices.

The biggest race in Fayette County is the battle between District Attorney Nancy D. Vernon, 53, and attorney Ernest P. DeHaas III, 62, for a seat on the Fayette County bench. The winner will replace President Judge Conrad B. Capuzzi, who is stepping down upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70.

The race is a rematch of the spring primary, where Vernon captured the Democratic nomination and DeHaas took home the GOP bid.

Overall Vernon, a Democrat, finished with about 4,600 more votes than DeHaas, a Republican, on both tickets so that’s the margin he’ll have to try and overcome today. His best hope for victory probably lies in securing the votes of the 2,435 Republicans who voted for Vernon in the primary. Vernon, meanwhile, will be targeting the 7,024 Democrats who voted for DeHaas last spring.

The contest is one of several judicial races on the ballot. Democrat Jack Panella is running against Republican Joan Orie Melvin for a seat on the state Supreme Court. Nine candidates are vying for four seats on the state Superior Court and four candidates are battling for two seats on Commonwealth Court.

Fayette County Judge John F. Wagner Jr. is running for retention as are Superior Court Judge Kate Ford Elliott and Commonwealth Court Judge Dan Pellegrini. Voters will be asked to cast yes or no votes in those elections.

Locally, the race that has drawn the most interest is Uniontown City Council, where four candidates are seeking two four-year terms. In the race are Democrats Francis “Joby” Palumbo III and Gary Gearing and Republicans Curtis R.Sproul and Russ Rhodes. There’s also a battle for a two-year term with Democrat Phil Michael squaring off against Republican Gary Altman.

Brownsville also has a contested council race with three incumbents, Jack Lawver, Tom Bush and Tracy Sheehan Zivkovich, running along with newcomer Ross Swords for three seats.

Lawver and Bush secured both Republican and Democratic nominations while Zivkovich and Swords are running on the Democrat and Republican tickets, respectively.

There are two other contested council races in Smithfield and Ohiopyle.

There are contested races for mayor in Brownsville, Dunbar, Masontown, Ohiopyle and Vanderbilt along with township supervisor contests in Connellsville, Franklin, German, Henry Clay, Saltlick and Springfield townships.

Four school districts have school board races, including Connellsville Area, Laurel Highlands, Uniontown Area and Albert Gallatin.

In Uniontown, there are six candidates seeking four seats. In the other three school districts there are five candidates running for four seats.

Rounding out the ballot are tax collector races in Everson Borough and Bullskin, Connellsville, Saltlick, South Union, Springfield, Washington, and Wharton townships.

The polling places are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.