Erie County 2023 municipal primary updates
The following are unofficial primary results from Tuesday night as they became available. Looking for just the numbers? Unofficial tallies for contested races are available here.
Girard School Board
Only one candidate, Melissa Smith, sought a Democratic nomination for Girard School Board. And with five nominations available, she won. Six vied for five Republican nominations: Brady Sager with 522 votes in unofficial Tuesday tallies; Sean Dunn with 494; Richard Brown, 467; Smith, 432; Joseph Meka, 408; and Samantha Lupher, 381. The top five vote-getters may not be the nominees; mail-in votes had yet to be counted.
Northwestern School Board
In the Northwestern School District, nine candidates cross-registered for nominations for five available school board seats. Unofficial Tuesday vote totals in Democratic balloting are: Kristy Bolte, incumbent, 330; Trisha Pratt, 244; Melissa Thatcher, 223; Beth Hough, 184; Amanda Kulyk, 176; incumbent Shelly Rice, 154; incumbent Sam Ring, 125; Meghan Dalaba, 102; and Elizabeth Smith, 100. On the Republican side, Ring took 583 votes; Hough, 546; Rice, 544; Dalaba, 453; Bolte 422; Smith, 422; Pratt, 288; Kulyk, 287; and Thatcher, 232.
North East School Board
Voting for North East School Board, with five Republican nominations available for four-year terms, was led by Mackenzie Luke with 545 votes, followed by James Wargo with 510, Charles Ferruggia with 504, Katie Phillips with 423, Glenn Craig with 399, Kirra Grubbs with 311 and Alene Rohde with 282. Only Ferruggia, Luke, Phillips and Rohde sought Democratic nominations. Mail-in votes had not yet been counted.
Harbor Creek School Board: Parente leads in race for 5 nominations
In the race for five party nominations for Harbor Creek School Board, unofficial Tuesday vote totals are, Democratic: Amy Parente 722, Terri Brink 698, Thomas Fortin 624, Keith Farrell 501, Alan Mosko 482 and Ryan Cowser 472; Republican: Parente 633, Brink 616, Willis 597, Farrell 585, Fortin 582, Cowser 531 and Mosko 523. Mail-in votes had not been counted.
Millcreek Township School Board: Winschel, Dean in front
Former Millcreek Township School Director Lou Aliota trailed in the race for five available Republican nominations in unofficial Tuesday vote counts. Mail-in votes had not yet been counted.
Leading the way Tuesday were incumbents Shirley Winschel and Jason Dean with 1,736 and 1,728 votes, respectively, followed by Sue Ellen Pasquale with 1,657, incumbent Michael Lindner with 1,580, Wade Brink with 1,473 and Aliota with 1,249.
Aliota did not seek a Democratic nomination. All of the other candidates were registered for nominations in both parties.
Erie County judge: Sala, Mikovch headed for November matchup
Lawyers Peter Sala and Eric Mikovch are headed for a showdown in November in the race for Erie County judge. With all 149 precincts reporting, and with mail-in ballots counted in Tuesday's primary, Sala, a registered Democrat, won the Democratic nomination while Mikovch, a registered Republican, took the GOP nod. On the Democratic side, Sala had 14,988 votes, candidate Leigh Ann Orton 5,931 and Mikovch, 2,923. On the Republican ballot, Mikovich led with 5,596 votes to Orton's 5,488 and Sala's 5,350. Orton is a registered Republican. All the candidates cross-filed in the race for the one open seat on the Erie County Court of Common Pleas.
General McLane School Board
Two party nominations were available for General McLane School Board at-large directors. In Tuesday Democratic balloting, Carrie Crow led with 438 votes, followed by Kevin Webber with 371, Timothy Rankin with 262 and Barbara Lincoln with 261. On the Republican side, Mark Pifer led with 604 votes, followed by Chris Kovski wit 541, Webber 345, Crow 332, Rankin 324 and Lincoln 293.
In General McLane Region 3, with two nominations available, Tuesday leaders in Democratic balloting were: Ashley Olson with 204 vote and Andrew Schulz with 177, followed by Pam Nolan with 128. On the Republican side, Mark Kernick took 322 votes and Robert Nick 259, followed by Olson with 253, Shari Gould with 200 and Schulz with 184.
In Region 3, with one party nomination available, Timothy Wise took 164 Democratic votes and 134 Republican votes. Patricia Tufts got 53 Democratic votes and 75 Republican votes.
Fort LeBoeuf School Board: Five nominations for each party
Unofficial Tuesday vote totals for five available Republican nominations for Fort LeBoeuf School Board are: incumbent Robert Oberlander, 726 votes; incumbent Michael Rose, 587; James Dwyer, 569; Renee Turi, 557; Scott Taylor, 535; Paul Albrecht, 524; and Benny Hunt, 514. Mail-in votes have not yet been counted. There were five candidates for the five Democratic nominations: Albrecht, Dwyer, Hunt, Oberlander and Taylor.
Fairview School Board: Yochim (D), Lyons (R) lead
With five nominations in each party available for Fairview School Board, Tuesday's leading vote-getters, by unofficial results, were, Democratic: Emily Yochim 414, Lori Sobin 382, incumbent Pamela Liccardi 344, incumbent James Lyons Jr. 331, Geoffrey Grundy 231, Carin Shollenberger 208 and Michael Naber 151; Republican: Lyons 544, Yochim 537, Shollenberger 479, Naber 455, Sobin 431, Liccardi 400 and Grundy 362. Mail-in votes have not yet been counted.
Venango Township Supervisor: Nelson ahead
Venango Township Supervisor David Austin trailed Jeff Nelson, 124 votes to 89, in unofficial Tuesday vote totals for the Republican nomination for township supervisor. That's not counting mail-in votes that have yet to be counted.
Summit Township: Davis unofficially takes supervisor race
Summit Township incumbent Tony Davis bested challenger Mark Sleppy in Tuesday voting for the Republican nomination for township supervisor, by 332 votes to 222, according to unofficial results from the township's two voting districts. Mail-in votes have not yet been counted. No Democrats sought nomination for supervisor.
Greene Township Supervisor: Bartnicki has slight edge
In Greene Township, incumbent John Bartnicki led Shawn Mattson in unofficial vote totals Tuesday for the Democratic nomination for township supervisor, by 155 votes to 134 with both township voting districts reporting. Mail-in votes have not yet been counted. Krista Arnold was the only candidate for the Republican nomination for supervisor.
Erie County judge: Sala rolling on Democratic ticket, Mikovch holds slim margin on GOP side
In the race for Erie County judge, Erie lawyer Peter Sala is cruising toward the Democratic nomination and remains in striking distance of also winning the Republican nomination. He would be guaranteed a win in the Nov. 7 election if he locks up both nominations in Tuesday's primary. With 118 of 149 precincts reporting, and with no mail-in ballots counted, Sala, a registered Democrat, had 6,261 votes. The other two candidates, Leigh Ann Orton and Eric Mikovch, both registered Republicans, had 2,351 votes and 1,228 votes, respectively, on the Democratic side. They also cross-filed. On the Republican ballot, Mikovch was leading with 3,142 votes. Sala had 3,123 and Orton, 3,121.
Erie County Council: Foust expands lead
In the primary election for Erie County Council, unofficial early results for the Republican contest in the 1st District show Cody Foust leading Lou Aliota, 1,286 to 688 votes, with 17 out of 18 precincts reporting. Mail-in votes have not yet been counted. All other candidates vying for a seat on County Council are running unopposed and will most likely win their party's nod for the Nov. 7 general election.
Franklin Township: Supervisor race
Incumbent Franklin Township Supervisor James Sachar trailed challenger Ernest Robinson in unofficial Tuesday voting results. Mail-in ballots had not yet been counted. Robinson led with 136 votes to 48 for Sachar. No Democrats sought nomination.
Summit Township: Incumbent Davis leads Sleppy
With one of two Summit Township voting districts reporting, incumbent Supervisor Tony Davis so far leads challenger Mark Sleppy in the race for the Republican nomination, by a slim 131-123 vote margin. That's with mail-in ballots not yet counted.
Iroquois School District
With all five voting districts in the Iroquois School District reporting and four nominations available in each party for school board, vote counts so far are, Democratic: Jennifer Sheldon 271, Amber Miller 261, Karl Bush 211, Daniel Quiggle 202, Wade King 178 and Jeremy Coblentz 157; Republican: Sheldon 172, Bush 163, Quiggle 157, Miller 152, Coblentz 148 and King 133. Mail-in votes have not yet been counted.
Fairview School District: Five nominations, four voting districts reporting
In the Fairview School District, with five nominations available for School Board and with four of five voting districts reporting, vote totals so far are, Democratic: Emily Yochim 328, Lori Sobin 307, Pamela Liccardi 275, James Lyons Jr. 264, Geoffrey Grundy 193, Carin Shollenberger 152 and Michael Naber 115; Republican: Lyons 436, Yochim 408, Shollenberger 354, Naber 342, Sobin 333, Liccardi 318 and Grundy 293. Lyons and Liccardi are incumbent school directors.
Erie City Council: Early results show Titus, Keys, Schaaf in lead
Unofficial early results in the Democratic primary for Erie City Council show former Erie School Board member and Erie County Executive candidate Tyler Titus, incumbent Michael Keys and former Councilwoman Kathy Schaaf leading in the race for three open four-year seats on Tuesday’s municipal primary ballot, with former Councilwoman Kathy Schaaf close behind.
With 37 of 63 city precincts reporting, Titus had garnered 1,275 votes; Keys, 942 votes; and Schaaf, 913 votes. They were followed by incumbent Ed Brzezinski with 869 votes; Kate Koehle, 605 votes; Armand Rocco Jr., 571 votes; Rob Mahrt, 488 votes; Rock Copeland, 475 votes; and Cory DiLoreto, 358 votes.
For the two-year City Council seat, placed on the ballot because of the January resignation of former City Council president Liz Allen, Brzezinski (2709 votes) was leading, followed by Schaaf with 628 votes; and fellow Democrats Susannah Faulkner (624 votes) and Cory DiLoreto (298 votes).
Faulkner was appointed to the vacant City Council seat in February, and she will serve in that seat until at least Jan. 1.
Since no Republicans are on the primary ballot in the City Council race for either the two-year or the four-year terms, the primary winners are virtually assured of victory in November, absent a successful write-in or third party candidacy.
The winner of the two-year seat will serve until that term ends on Jan. 1, 2026.
Harbor Creek School Board
In the Harbor Creek School Board race, there are five nominations available in each party. Results so far, with five of seven voting districts reporting, are, Democratic: Amy Parente 454, Terri Brink 444, Thomas Fortin 388, Ryan Cowser 319, Keith Farrell 318 and Alan Mosko 315; Republican: Parente 414, Brink 412, Willis 401, Farrell 386, Fortin 380, Cowser 370 and Mosko 358.
Erie County Council: Early returns show Foust leads Aliota
In the only competitive race for Erie County Council, early returns indicate Republican Cody Foust leading fellow Republican Lou Aliota, 624 to 330 votes, for the 1st District seat, which represents the bulk of Millcreek Township. The numbers reflect eight out of 18 precincts. The four incumbent council members on the ballot — Democrats Terry Scutella and Mary Rennie and Republicans Brian Shank and Ellen Schauerman — have no primary challengers.
Morning turnout light at Erie-area polling places
A lack of high-profile statewide and national races is the likely reason voter turnout has been light at Erie County polling places Tuesday morning for the Democratic and Republican primaries.
As of 10 a.m., 126 people had cast ballots at the Harborcreek Township Municipal Building, 5601 Buffalo Road, which hosts voting for the township's District 6 and District 7.
"Normally in the morning we see a line out the door and through the lobby, maybe even people waiting outside," said Erin Siegrist, judge of elections for Harborcreek District 7. "Today there were four people waiting."
The turnout was even lighter at East Middle School, 1001 Atkins St., which hosts Erie's Second Ward, Fourth District, and First Ward, Fifth District.
Only 18 people combined had voted at the two polling places as of 9:30 a.m., though election officials said they usually see more voters during lunch and after work.
"It's not like when there is the presidential race or midterms," said Laverna Ritchie, a clerk of elections for the First Ward, Fifth District. "Not as many people take the local races as seriously."
Among the contested primary races are four seats on Erie City Council, one seat on Erie County Council, and various school boards and judicial races.
All four polling places were using new electronic poll pads to check in voters. Voters signed on a tablet and received a printed receipt to take to the machine operator.
"They are testing them where there are two polling places at one location," Siegrist said. "Hopefully it will save time for both voters and staff."
David Bruce
What you need to know
Erie County voters head to the polls Tuesday to vote in the Democratic and Republican primaries.
More: Erie County voters' guide to the races, candidates and issues in the 2023 primary
What time are polls open in Pennsylvania?
In-person polls are open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Those who are in line by 8 p.m. are entitled to vote.
If you received a mail-in ballot but choose to vote in person, bring your ballot and envelope to the polls, where you can vote. If you applied for a mail-in ballot but didn’t receive one, you can still vote in person at the polls by provisional ballot.
Where do I vote in PA?
If you haven't sent in a mail-in ballot, but aren't sure where to vote, you can find your polling place here.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie County PA 2023 live primary updates
