Voters choose incumbents to move on in Lebanon county commissioner race

All three incumbent Lebanon County commissioners will be moving forward after winning their primary races Tuesday, and the final Democrat candidate may only win by more than 100 votes.

With all 60 precincts reporting in and mail-in votes counted, Commissioner Michael Kuhn received 10,160 votes Tuesday night, winning his first primary. Kuhn was appointed in February 2022 to serve the remainder of Commissioner Bill Ames' term after he died in December 2021.

Kuhn said the voters showed that they put their faith in him, and he doesn't want to let them down.

"It's a great feeling, but it's really a great team effort," he said. "I certainly did not do this alone. This was accomplished by a lot of people stepping forward to help me, and I'm honored."

Kuhn served on the Lebanon School Board for 28 years and worked is an employee at WellSpan Good Samaritan Hospital for for 37 years. Kuhn describes himself as "a conservative, a Second Amendment guy, pro-life and smaller government."

In the weeks leading up to the primary, several mailers and Facebook messages were paid for and released by the Lebanon County Republican Committee attacking Kuhn for his previous role as a school board official and member of the elections committee.

Kuhn said he goal was always to run a clean campaign, and now he wants to bring the members of the party back together for the general election in November.

"Tomorrow is a new day, and we need to get back to work," he said. "There's too much at stake. I look at the issues statewide, nationally and internationally, and they're huge. We need to be working together as a party, and I hope to bring our party back together."

Kuhn's fellow commissioner, chairman Robert Phillips received 7,189 votes Tuesday. Phillips announced in December that he would seek a fourth term in office. Phillips was first elected into office in 2011.

"It was a hard fought campaign," he said. "We did the best we could. All candidates were working hard, and if Mike (Kuhn) and I are going to be representing the party in the fall we'll have to get together and planning for that."

Republican 2023 Primary: Lebanon County commissioners: Phillips, Kuhn seek re-election; Bering enters race

Phillips was running a joint campaign with local businessman Bill Bering Jr., owner of the Bering Real Estate Company, who received 6,599 votes. The Swatara Township supervisor and Phillips were endorsed by the Lebanon County Republican committee, and told the Lebanon Daily News in January that public safety, farm preservation, affordable housing and workforce development are the top issues the next county commissioners will have to deal with in the future.

"Unfortunately, the results didn't go the way we hoped tonight," Bering said. "But I congratulate both the winners and I hope they work together to continue to make Lebanon County a great place to live and raise a family."

Lebanon city resident and community activist Sharon Zook received 4,449 votes in Tuesday's Republican primary.

Both Kuhn and Phillips expressed Tuesday evening interest in joining their campaigns for the November general election, and said they would be talking about it in the future.

"That needs to happen," Kuhn said. "We need to be together and work together."

In the Democratic primary, incumbent County Commissioner Jo Ellen Litz received 4,285 votes. This is Litz' sixth consecutive time running for a four-year term. Her first term was from 1996 to 1999, then she held office from 2004 until the present.

Democrat 2023 Primary: Litz to seek sixth consecutive four-year term as county commissioner

"I'm just so grateful to all the voters, whether it was by mail-in or at the polls," she said. "To feel appreciated with those votes means so much, and I want to thank the Lord because I know he was involved in this race."

Litz has said that if re-elected wants to complete the Lebanon Valley Rail Trail, update the county's comprehensive plan and continue to preserve local farmland.

Former full-time Lebanon Valley College teacher and activist Michael Schroeder is the second Democratic to move on to the November general election. Schroeder received 3,211 votes in Tuesday's primary.

Schroeder said he was grateful for the support of the voters in Lebanon County and looks forward to addressing the issues in the future.

"I think I carry a very strong message of genuine, fresh leadership in the Lebanon County Commissioners office," he said. "We need a fresh voice and a fresh perspective, and I think people understand that."

Democrat 2023 Primary: Schroeder announces bid for county commissioner's race

Cornwall-Lebanon school director Diana Carpenter received 3,099 votes. There are still 139 write-in votes in the Democratic primary that were reported Tuesday evening.

Matthew Toth is a reporter for the Lebanon Daily News. Reach him at mtoth@ldnews.com or on Twitter at @DAMattToth.

This article originally appeared on Lebanon Daily News: Voters pick incumbents to move on in Lebanon county commissioner race