Benyak, Cook on top in 49th
Democratic candidate in the race for the state House’s 49th District Alan Benyak reacts to election results Tuesday night at Contromano’s Restaurant in Charleroi.
Scott Beveridge/Observer-Reporter
Bud Cook recently proposed eliminating the Local Share Account and instead giving the money to school districts for property tax relief.
Mary Popovich
Charleroi attorney Alan Benyak won the Democratic nomination and Bud Cook captured the Republican nod in the Mon Valley’s 49th Legislative District, so they’ll be squaring off in November to see who succeeds State Rep. Peter J. Daley as he exits the State House after 34 years.
Benyak and about 40 friends gathered at Contromano’s restaurant in Charleroi. Shortly after 10 p.m., he said, “I want to thank everyone for being here. How honored I am to have this much support.”
Benyak vowed to begin campaigning today to defeat Republican opponent Bud Cook of West Pike Run Township. He cited planks in his platform as job creation, real estate tax reform and addressing the heroin epidemic.
Cook said earlier in the evening, “We’re going to build on the plan we already started. I knocked on 7,000 doors and brought in a lot of young people as supporters.”
The unofficial totals in Washington and Fayette counties on the Democratic ticket are: Benyak, 2,150; Donn R. Henderson, 1,552; Mark Alterici, 954; Bob Kepics, 654; Brendan Garay, 331; and Randy Barli, 304.
In the same counties on the Republican ballot, totals were Cook, 1,949, and Melanie S. Patterson, 1,389.
Most of the district lies in Washington County, but it also includes a slice of Fayette County.
Also in the Mon Valley, in the 58th Legislative District in the Monessen-Jeannette area, West Newton Mayor Mary Popovich handily defeated Charles Mrlack of Monessen for the Democratic nomination.
Unofficial returns from Westmoreland County showed Popovich with 4,263 votes to Mrlack’s 1,248. Popovich will face Republican Justin Walsh, who ran in the primary unopposed, in the Nov. 8 general election. The name of Jim Manderino II, who withdrew from the race, still had his name listed on the ballot, where he garnered 648 votes.
“Trust is the greatest gift you can receive, and I just received the greatest gift from the people because they elected me to be their representative in the general election. I’m going to enjoy this for a couple of days, but I’m not going to dilly-dally too long because I have work to do,” said Popovich in a brief phone interview.
State Rep. Ted Harhai, first elected to the General Assembly in 1998, chose not to run for a ninth, two-year term.
In legislative districts that include other parts of Washington County, former state representative Jesse White, an attorney from Cecil Township, appeared to be falling short in his bid to secure the Democratic nomination to set up a re-match between himself and Republican State Rep. Jason Ortitay of South Fayette Township.
Joe Szpara, a retired Teamster of Collier Township, was leading with 4,516 votes in Washington and Allegheny counties to White’s 4,414, according to unofficial totals.
In a hotly contested race in November 2014, Ortitay wrested the seat in the 46th Legislative District from White, who had been in office for eight years.
In the 15th Legislative District, which includes western Washington County and a large chunk of Beaver County, unofficial totals from both counties were Michael Rossi, 3,887, and Dennis Nichols, 3,481.
Nichols claimed State Rep. Jim Christiana, a 2006 graduate of Washington & Jefferson College who majored in political science, put Rossi in the race against him. Rossi rebutted he has no ties to Christiana.
Nichols, a former Beaver County commissioner, is from Brighton Township while Rossi hails from Center Township. Christiana is a former councilman in Beaver Borough.
In Washington County, the district includes Claysville, Green Hills and West Middletown boroughs, and Buffalo, Amwell, Blaine, Cross Creek, Donegal, East Finley, Hanover, Hopewell, Independence, Jefferson, Morris, South Franklin and West Finley townships. Until the 2014 election cycle, the municipalities were part of Daley’s and White’s districts.
Running unopposed in their respective legislative primaries in areas that include parts of Washington County were, District 39, Democrat Peter Thaddeus Kobylinski and Republican incumbent Rick Saccone; District 40, Democrat Dr. Andrew J. Zahalsky and Republican incumbent John Maher; District 48, Democratic incumbent Brandon Neuman; and, in District 50, Democratic incumbent Pam Snyder and Republican challenger Betsy Rohanna McClure. There was no Republican on the ballot in the 48th District.
Staff writers Scott Beveridge and Karen Mansfield contributed to this report.