State appellate courts, countywide row offices at stake in Tuesday’s election
Mike Jones/Observer-Reporter
Election Day is now upon us and there are a variety of races for statewide appellate courts, county row offices, municipal governments and school boards.
The polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. today, and all mail-in ballots must be returned by voters to their county’s elections office no later than 8 p.m.
All eyes in Pennsylvania will be on the retention vote for state Supreme Court Justices Christine Donohue, Kevin Dougherty and David Wecht in which voters will decide whether they should receive another 10-year term on the high court. Similar retention votes will be held for state Superior Court Judge Alice Beck Dubow and Commonwealth Court Judge Michael Wojcik.
There is also a local candidate vying for state Superior Court with Washington County Court of Common Pleas Judge Brandon Neuman, who is a Democrat, running against Republican Maria Battista and independent candidate Daniel Wassmer. There is another competitive statewide race for Commonwealth Court with Democrat Stella Tsai and Republican Matt Wolford running for a seat on the appellate court.
In Fayette County, there are several row office races up for grabs. The Recorder of Deeds race has Republican incumbent Jon Marietta going up against Democratic challenger James Santilli; Republican Treasurer Melissa Tzan is being challenged by Democrat Matthew Lancaster; and Democratic Jury Commissioner Trinette Schmidt-Cunningham is running against Republican challenger Frank Mutnansky.
The only competitive row office race in Washington County has acting Controller Heather Sheatler running as a Democrat against Republican candidate Pat Phillips. The election is a rematch from May when Sheatler and Phillips ran against each other in the Republican primary, with Phillips winning the nomination and Sheatler getting the write-in vote from Democrats.
In addition, Washington County Court of Common Pleas Judge John DiSalle is also up for a retention vote in which voters will decide whether he should receive another 10-year term on the bench.
There are no competitive countywide races in Greene County after Chris Simms won both the Republican and Democratic nominations for Court of Common Pleas judge over Patrick Fitch. Simms will replace Greene County President Judge Lou Dayich when he retires from the bench in January.
There are also a variety of municipal government and school board races for local communities.