Fayette unofficial primary voting results released
Fayette County’s official election results from last month’s municipal primary will be finalized in about a week, barring any challenges to the results. Early Monday afternoon, the Fayette County election board, which includes commission Chairman Vincent Zapotosky, Commissioner Angela M. Zimmerlink and attorney Mark Mehalov, signed the results, which included absentee, write-in and provisional ballots. If no challenges are filed, the unofficial results will be signed in five days for the second and last time and become official, according to Larry Blosser, head of the election bureau.
According to the results, 20,056 voters, or about 28.5 percent of the county’s 70,286 registered voters, cast ballots. The races on the ballot included a special election for the 12th Congressional District, which was vacated earlier this year by the death of U.S. Rep. John P. Murtha, who had held the office for decades. Also on the ballot were party nominations for governor, lieutenant governor, U.S. senator, U.S. representative, state representative, state senator and committee members.
Mark Critz, a former staff member for Murtha, ended up with 11,290 votes in Fayette County. Republican Tim Burns garnered 7,415 votes and Libertarian Demo Agoris received 342 votes.
Critz easily defeated Burns in the entire district, which includes all of Greene County and parts of eight other counties, including Fayette.
In the race for the Democratic nomination for U.S. senator, U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak received 9,682 votes in Fayette County, compared to 7,231 for incumbent Arlen Specter. Statewide, Specter lost the nomination to Sestak. On the Republican ticket for the same seat, Pat Toomey received 4,981 votes in Fayette County, compared to 1,345 for Peg Luksik. Toomey also received his party’s nomination.
For the Democratic nomination for governor, Dan Onorato won in Fayette County with 9,421 votes. Jack Wagner received 6,400 votes, Anthony Hardy Williams received 615 votes and Joseph M. Hoeffel received 417 votes. Tom Corbett, who was seeking and received the Republican gubernatorial nomination, received 55 Democratic write-in votes. Onorato got the nomination.
For the Republican ticket, Corbett received 5,634 votes in Fayette County and Samuel E. Rohrer picked up 1,086 votes. Corbett won the nomination.
H. Scott Conklin, who grabbed the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor, was the top vote-getter in Fayette County with 6,419 votes, while Jonathan A. Saidel received 3,479 votes and Doris A. Smith-Ribner received 4,053 votes.
Fayette County voters also successfully picked the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor, when Jim Cawley received 1,506 votes, or more than any of the other eight candidates. The others and their vote totals were: Steve Johnson, 467; Jean Craige Pepper, 398; Russ Diamond, 274; Chet Beiler, 617; Billy McCue, 1,386; John Kennedy, 562; Stephen A. Urban, 162 and Daryl Metcalfe, 795.
For U.S. representative in the 9th Congressional District, Republican incumbent Bill Shuster, R-Hollidaysburg, received 1,599 votes in Fayette County. He was running unopposed for the nomination, and there were no Democratic candidates.
Critz, who received the Democratic nomination for the 2011-12 term for the 12th Congressional District, won the vote in Fayette County as well, receiving 9,328 votes, compared to 3,007 votes for Ryan Bucchianeri and 649 votes for Ronald Ron Mackell Jr.
For the Republican nomination for the seat, Burns bested William Russell 2,851 votes to 2,067 in the county. Burns won the nomination district wide.
State Sen. Richard Kasunic, D-Dunbar, easily won the Democratic nomination for his seat, receiving 12,835 votes in the county, compared to 4,131 for challenger Ronald L. Gallo. On the Republican ticket, in which no candidate filed, there were 200 write-in votes for “Richard A. Kasunic” and 31 write-in votes for “Kasunic.” To be eligible for inclusion on the Republican ballot, Kasunic would have to petition the court. The seat also includes portions of two other counties.
In the 49th Legislative District, incumbent Democrat Peter J. Daley III, D-California, received 1,109 votes in the county, compared to 397 for Randy J. Barli. Daley won the nomination.
Richard Massafra, the lone Republican candidate seeking the nomination for the seat, received 195 votes.
In the 50th Legislative District, incumbent Bill DeWeese, D-Waynesburg, received 1,217 votes in the county, while Pam Snyder received 883 votes and Tony Brnusak received 281 votes. DeWeese received the nomination.
For the Republican nomination, the only candidate, Richard A. Yeager, received 304 votes in the county.
Two incumbents, Timothy Mahoney and Deberah Kula, both Democrats, did not have opposition in the primary, and no Republicans sought the nomination for either of the two seats. Mahoney, D-South Union Township, who represents the 51st Legislative District, received 5,260 votes in the county, while Kula, D-North Union Township, who represents the 52nd Legislative District, received, 5,391 votes in the county.
Two other incumbents whose districts include small portions of Fayette County, Democrat R. Ted Harhai and Republican Mike Reese, also were on the ballot.
Harhai, D-Monessen, who won the Democratic nomination for the 58th Legislative District, received 433 votes in the county, compared to 65 for opponent Scott Painter. Rob Ferguson, who sought the Republican nomination, received 105 cotes.
Mike Reese, a Republican incumbent in the 59th Legislative District, received 555 votes in the county. No Republicans filed for the nomination.
The other countywide races included Democratic and Republican state committee.
Two male Democrats and two female Democrats were selected, while one male Republican and one female Republican were selected.
For male Democratic committee member, Commissioner Vincent A. Vicites received the most tallies, with 8,100 votes, and Menallen Township Supervisor Joseph Petrucci received 6,167 votes and the second position.
Also in the committee race, Uniontown Councilman Francis “Joby” Palumbo received 6,161 votes, while former state Rep. Larry Roberts received 4,687 votes.
For the Democratic female committee members, Lauren Mahoney was the top vote-getter with 7,872 votes, while the second position went to Gloria L. Dillon with 6,981 votes.
Dunbar Township tax collector Marigrace Butela received 6,839 votes.
On the Republican ticket, the only male candidate, Michael J. Hosier, received 5,226 votes.
Rebecca Harmon received 3,611 votes and the female position, with Whitney Wendy Baur receiving 2,026 votes.
The election board signed the results following a hearing on a provisional ballot that was rejected after it was determined the voter was given a Democratic ballot instead of a Republican ballot.
While the primary was on May 18, the vote totals were delayed because of a mistake in which some duplicate ballots were given to voters in one precinct in North Union Township for the special election. The issue was resolved when all the duplicate ballots were rejected.
A first-time judge of election mistakenly handed out special election ballots to Democrats and Republicans that should have only gone to voters of other political parties.
Three Independent voters cast paper ballots at the precinct in question, and those votes were not counted because it couldn’t be determined which ballots belonged to those voters.
Judge Nancy D. Vernon issued a ruling in the case following a recommendation by the election board to reject all the duplicate ballots after it was determined that all the Democrats and Republicans voted on both ballots.