School boards, Meadville City Council among the few contested races

Nov. 7—Two area school board races, as well as the race for two seats on Meadville City Council, are among the few contested campaigns as voters head to the polls from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. today.

Both the PENNCREST and Crawford Central school boards feature multiple candidates vying for seats on their respective boards.

PENNCREST has a total of eight candidates seeking five seats that are four-year terms and another three candidates running for two seats that are two-year terms.

PENNCREST voters will be choosing from Allison Beers, Randy Styborski, Tiffany A. Donor, David McWight, Scott Stallings, Brian E. Custard, Michael Chausse and Ryan Benek for the four-year seats. Chausse is the only incumbent board member.

For the two-year seats, voters will pick two from among three candidates: Timothy J. Brown, Neil Bullock and David Valesky. Brown and Valesky are incumbent board members.

In Crawford Central, there are nine candidates seeking one of five seats that are four-year terms with two other candidates vying for a two-year seat.

Crawford Central voters will choose between Lisa Whitenack, Shanna Hodgson, Bonnie Murphy, Wallace G. Mason II, Kevin G. Merritt, Ed Devore, Ron Irwin, Monica Hargenrater and Jeff Rose. Both Merritt and Rose are incumbent board members.

For the two-year seat, Melissa Burnett and Tammy Silvis are running. Burnett is an incumbent board member.

In the Conneaut School District in western Crawford County, board members are elected by regions. The only race is in Region 2 with Travis Crytzer and Edward Williamson seeking the lone four-year term.

In Meadville, there are two seats up for election on Meadville City Council with Democrats Autumn Vogel and Larry McKnight, both incumbents, seeking second terms. They are being challenged by Republicans Marcy Kantz and Bill Lawrence.

At the county level, there are only three candidates on the ballot to be elected to the three seats on the Crawford County Board of Commissioners.

Christopher R. Seeley of Linesville is the lone Democrat on the ballot along with Republicans Eric Henry of West Mead Township and Scott Schell of Cochranton.

Henry is the current chairman of commissioners and seeking a second four-year term while Seeley and Schell are seeking newly elected offices. Seeley currently is an elected county auditor while Schell currently is the elected county coroner.

Two incumbent commissioners, Francis Weiderspahn Jr., a Republican, and Christopher Soff, a Democrat, did not seek reelection.

Republican and Democratic voters select two nominees in the primary with those four winners running in November with the the top three vote-getters in the general election then becoming the board of commissioners.

The race for county auditor is similar to the commissioners contest with only three candidates on the ballot.

Darien Pfaff of Summit Township, a bank teller, is the only Democrat on the ballot along with Republicans Kelsey Zimmerman of Randolph Township and Renee Kiser of Saegertown. Zimmerman is an incumbent auditor and Kiser is a fiscal assistant in the county treasurer's office.

There are multiple other countywide offices on the ballot, but they are uncontested.

Eric Coston of East Mead Township, a physician assistant and current deputy coroner, is running for coroner.

Paula DiGiacomo of Meadville, the incumbent district attorney, is running for election for a full four-year term. The former first assistant district attorney, she was appointed DA in January 2022, succeeding Francis Schultz, who had been elected a county judge.

Emmy Arnett of Greenwood Township, the incumbent prothonotary, is seeking a fifth term in that post.

Dave Powers of Hayfield Township, the incumbent sheriff, is seeking reelection to a second term.

Coston, DiGiacomo, Arnett and Powers, all Republicans, each won that party's nomination for their respective office in the May primary. In addition, all four each won the Democratic Party's nomination for their respective office via write-in votes as there were no Democratic Party candidates for those offices in the May primary.

Beth M. Forbes of Union Township, a Republican and the incumbent register and recorder, is seeking reelection to a second term. Forbes is unopposed in her bid as there is no Democrat on the ballot for the office.

There also will be several statewide judicial elections and judicial retention questions on the ballot.

For Pennsylvania Supreme Court, voters will choose between Democrat Daniel McCaffery and Republian Carolyn Carluccio.

For Pennsylvania Superior Court, voters will choose two candidates from Democrats Jill Beck and Timika Lake and Republicans Maria Battista and Harry F. Smail Jr.

For Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court, voters will choose between Democrat Matt Wolf and Republican Megan Martin.

For judicial retention, voters are being asked if Jack Panella should be retained for an additional 10-year term Pennsylvania Superior Court and if Victor P. Stabile should be retained for an additional 10-year term on Pennsylvania Superior Court.

Keith Gushard can be reached at (814) 724-6370 or by email at kgushard@meadvilletribune.com.