Pottsville Area school board president appears to have lost reelection bid; other board totals in
May 16—Current Pottsville Area school board President Mike Cardamone appears to have lost his bid for reelection.
Unofficial tallies with all precincts reporting Tuesday night showed he was sixth among seven candidates on both the Republican and Democratic ballots, with only five seats open.
School board candidates are permitted to cross file on both the Democratic and Republican tickets.
Here are updated results:
Blue Mountain
Six candidates will battle in November after the primary failed to settle the race for five open seats, according to unofficial results.
Krista Stause, Michelle Vesay, Timothy G. Grube and Becky Wehr Miller all won both Republican and Democratic nominations, while Michael Zvalaren took the fifth Democratic spot and John T. Campomizzi Sr. the final spot on the Republican side.
With that, all six will be on the November ballot.
With 100% of the vote counted, the Democratic totals showed Strause with 629; Vesay, 603; Grube, 587; Miller, 566; Zvalaren, 522; and Whaley, 447.
Republican totals showed Miller with 2,023; Grube, 1,900; Strause, 1,818; Vesay, 1,628; Campomizzi Sr., 1,375; and Whaley, 1,370.
Vesay and Grube are the current board president and vice president, respectively, and Strause is also on the board.
David W. Lafko, treasurer, and member Scott W. Reichert did not seek reelection.
Mahanoy Area
Five candidates — all incumbents — ran for five positions on the board.
The Democratic totals were Gary R. Gnall, 336; Susan C. Scheeler, 334; Daniel Lynch, 316; Michael Mistishen, 311; and Santino Napoli, 282.
On the Republican side, totals were Gnall, 514; Scheeler, 469; Mistishen, 468; Lynch, 438; and Napoli, 432.
Minersville Area
Six candidates move on to November in a bid for five open seats.
With all nine precincts reporting, totals on the Democratic ballot were James O'Brien Jr., 467; Albert D. Marazas, 403; Michael J. Andruchek, 398; Kevin Wigoda, 368; Keith Adams, 294; W. Alexander Kurtek, 272; and James T. Croley II, 259.
Republican totals showed O'Brien with 515; Andruchek, 408; Croley, 391; Marazas, 378; Wigoda, 353; Adams, 330; and Kurtek, 295.
O'Brien, Marazas, Andrucheck and Wigoda secured nominations for both parties, while Adams won on the Democratic ballot and Croley on the Republican side.
Adams is the current board president, Marazas the treasurer and Wigoda, secretary.
North Schuylkill
Two incumbents won nominations for a single two-year board opening and will face off in November, while they were also among those winning nominations for four open four-year seats.
With voting completed for the two-year seat, Mary Anne Woodward appears to have won the Democratic balloting with 292 votes followed by Michael C. Kiehl, 145; Roy C. Green, 134; and Raymond Reichwein, 102. Philip Rapant Jr. had 86 votes.
On the Republican side, unofficial results were Kiehl, 423, to win nomination; followed by Woodward, 340; Green, 276; Reichwein, 270; Lori Jalonski, 218; and Rapant, 154.
The two-year term stems from the shortened tenure of former board member Suzanne O'Neill, who resigned in 2022. Randy Lattis currently holds that position.
For the four-year seats, Democratic ballot totals were Woodward, 581; Green, 475; Kiehl, 450; and Rapant, 360, securing the party nominations; and then Reichwein, 339; Lattis, 332; and James R. Samelko Jr., 220.
Republican nominees are Kiehl, 1,033; Woodward, 928; Reichwein, 851; and Green, 848. Other candidates and their vote totals were Keller, 732; Lattis, 643; Rapant, 533; and Samelko, 397.
Green, vice president, Woodward, treasurer, Kiehl and Lattis are incumbents.
Board President Charles Hepler is the only candidate not seeking reelection.
Pine Grove Area
Unopposed, J.T. Herber III had 334 votes on the Democratic ticket and 831 on the Republican side for an at-large seat, while Genavieve Moyer had 1239 in Region 1 as a Democrat and 365 as a Republican, with all precincts reporting.
Donald E. Brown Jr., current board vice president, had 309 votes on the Republican ticket for Region 2; he was unopposed.
Lauren Potter had 156 as a Republican for Region 3. She, too, was unopposed. Write-in votes were minimal in all cases.
All four candidates are incumbents.
Pottsville Area
Locking up nominations for the general election on both tickets were incumbents Linda Wytovich, Ashley DeWitt and Craig Shields and newcomers Rachael Schuettler Hobbs and Kerry Ansbach.
The Democratic totals were Wytovich, 862; DeWitt, 856; Hobbs, 850; Shields, 789; Ansbach, 650; Cardamone, 628; and Jamie Gunoskey, 450.
The Republican order was Hobbs, 1,026; Wytovich, 892; Shields, 802; DeWitt, 796; Ansbach, 775; Cardamone, 748; and Gunoskey, 575.
Ann Blankenhorn, the current vice president, did not seek re-election.
Saint Clair Area
Four incumbents and a former board member cross-filed for five open seats on the board, meaning all five will move on to November.
Vote totals on the Democratic ballot were Gerald G. Kuperavage, 448; Erin Troutman Murhon, 386; Jennifer Fegley, 374; Scott Clews, 373; and Erin E. Portland, 354.
Republican totals were Kuperavage, 406; Clews, 310; Murhon, 307; Fegley, 301; and Portland, 267.
Kuperavage is the former member.
Schuylkill Haven Area
Five candidates ran for five positions on the board, so all move on to November and likely elected back to the board.
Vote totals on the Democratic ballot were Crystal Dewald McGarry, 291; Melissa Strauch, 271; Scott R. Jacoby, current president, 259; Eric R. Felty, secretary, 248; and Dion Fessler, 234.
On the Republican side, tallies were Felty, 657; McGarry, 649; Jacoby, 611; Strauch, 596; and Fessler, 544.
Shenandoah Valley
The ballot included races for two-year and four-year seats.
Leslie Gilroy was the lone candidate for the shorter term, securing both nominations with 334 Democratic votes and 424 on the Republican side.
For the four-year seat, in which five candidates, all incumbents, vied for five open seats, the unofficial nominees and their vote totals are Jodi Piekarski Loughlin, 293; Joe Buchanan, 261; Daniel P. Salvadore, 250; Mike Donchak, 243; and Anita Monahan, 234.
The Republican ballot finishing order was Loughlin, 346; Salvadore, 328; Donchak, 317; Buchanan, 313; and Monahan, 280.
Salvadore is the current board president; Buchanan, vice president; and Gilroy, treasurer.
Tamaqua Area
The primary did not settle the race here, with seven winners moving on for five seats in November.
Three of the seven candidates, incumbents Thomas Bartasavage Jr., Melanie I.S. Dillman and Trina M. Shellhammer, won both Democratic and Republican nominations, while newcomers Jessica Tirpak and Samuel John Koch won Democratic nominations only and Wittig and fellow incumbent Daniel E. Schoener won on the Republican side.
Totals on the Democratic ballot were Schellhammer, 397; Dillman, 375; Bartasavage, 335; Tirpak, 333; Samuel John Koch, 324, Schoener, 322; and Wittig, 206.
On the Republican ballot, totals were Bartasavage, 1,508; Schellhammer, 1,497; Schoener, 1,395; Wittig, 1,385; Dillman, 1,361; Bob Caputo, 967; Tirpak, 866; and Koch, 805.
Tri-Valley
No one ran for four open seats on the board. The results of write-in voting are expected later in the week from the election bureau.
Williams Valley
The district has municipalities in both Dauphin and Schuylkill counties.
No one in Schuylkill County ran for two open seats on the board, though there were four write-in votes logged for Region 7 and 15 for Region 8 with totals for that lone precinct reported.
In Dauphin County, Tracey L. Minnich, Joanna Stroup and Joseph D'Agostino sought Republican nominations for one open seat in each of their respective regions. Minnich is in Williams Twp.; D'Agostino is in Williamstown, second ward; and Stroup is in Wiconisco Twp., second precinct.
Unofficial tallies showed Stroup had 24 votes; there was a single write-in for that race. Minnich had 67 votes, with two write-ins logged; and D'Agostino had 34 votes with zero write-ins on that ballot.
(Updated with corrected final numbers in some races.)
