Republicans Secure Most Positions in Wyoming County Races

Meshoppen Township poll volunteers (top, from left) Betty Cona, Mary Ann Smith, Nellie Benninger and Connie Teel catch some fresh air during one of the slower stretches of Election Day. Eighty-nine registered voters moved through the polls there on Tuesday, where there were no contested local races. On a county-level, David Plummer (above) was reelected as District Justice.

By Rick Hiduk

(See an edited version of this story in the Rocket-Courier)

Almost exactly one third of registered voters in Wyoming County took to the polls on a chilly and often snowy election day. A little more than 69 percent of those cast straight Republican ballots, compared to about 29 percent for Democrats. The Green Party received 19 straight ticket votes. According to Wyoming County director of elections and voter registration Florence Kellett, Election Day went smoothly with no serious problems reported at any of the polling places.

While many municipal candidates were uncontested, the hottest race in Wyoming County was, without a doubt, Barbara Grimaud’s run to unseat incumbent David Plummer for the 44-3-01 Magisterial District Judge seat. Not too long after the polls closed, it was clear that Plummer had retained his seat with 1,938 votes (55%) over Grimaud’s 1,550 (44%).

I’m excited and humbled,” Plummer said of his win. “I’m looking forward to working for the people of Wyoming County for the next six years.”

Plummer related that, while early results showed him to be in the lead, Grimaud’s home precinct and also the largest in this particular race – Tunkhannock Township 1 – was one of the last blocks of votes to be reported. By 10 pm, his team felt confident that they had won.

Plummer commended his supporters and expressed appreciation to the voters and especially his wife, Debbie, whom he said worked tirelessly for him. “I’m proud of our campaign. We ran a clean campaign and talked about our accomplishments and what we want to do in the future,” Plummer stated. He also wished Grimaud all the best in the future.

The uncontested county seats that were retained include Thomas Kukuchka as County Coroner and Jeff Mitchell as District Attorney. Both ran on the Republican and Democratic ticket. Like the aforementioned, Republican Patricia Mead garnered more than 99 percent of the available votes to keep her seat as County Treasurer.

In Braintrim Township, Republican Joanne Sands beat Sherre Boyanowski for Inspector of Elections with 78 percent of the vote. In Clinton Township, Walter Warring took an even 60 percent of the vote over Chelsey Gumble for a win as Tax Collector. The Exeter Township Tax Collector race was a little closer with Democrat Ann Marie Farley beating Gordon Bardzell with about 54 percent of the vote.

Another tight race was that for Factoryville Borough Councilmen, where Republican William Edwards IV appears to have taken the second ward seat with 48 percent of the vote over Charles Wrobel.

In Forkston Township, Lewis Denison easily defeated Democrat Marge Partusch in her run for a Supervisor position. Also in Forkston, Dawn Otten succeeded in her campaign for the Inspector of Election position with 55 percent of the vote over contender Leanora Denison.

The Inspector of Election position in Lemon Township went to Republican Elaine Decker, garnering 69 percent of the vote to beat Linda Twordusky. North Branch Township Inspector of Election went to Nancy Traver with 70 percent of the vote over Democrat Donna Lutz.

Northmoreland Township Inspector of Election was won by Republican Kellie Rusinko, who garnered 78 percent of the vote over contender Cathy Gates. Also in Northmoreland Township, Barbara Stephenson beat Brenda Hampton for the Tax Collector position.

The Tax Collector race in Monroe Township went to Republican Linda Searfoss with nearly 64 percent of the vote over Democrat Jodi Patton. Also in Monroe Township, Laura Hadsall swept the Inspector of Election race with 74 percent of the votes over contender Margaret Weiss.

Top voters in the Nicholson Borough Council race were Dawn Bell, John Decker, and Joan Jenkins, each garnering more than 20 percent of the votes cast. In Nicholson Township, Republican Jean Seamans edged out Donna Lane to take the Inspector of Election position. The Nicholson Borough Inspector of Election race was even closer, with Democrat Marcy Freethy receiving 51 percent of the vote to Carol Brecht’s 48 percent.

Noxen Township Inspector of Election went to Democrat Sarah Longmore over Republican Lennette Zipay by a seven percent margin. Tunkhannock Township Inspector of Election went to Rosanne Womer with 52 percent of the vote over Laura Anderson. Washington Township Inspector of Election went to Eva Williams with a strong 70 percent win over Democrat Irene Shemanski.

In Tunkhannock Borough, Incumbent Mayor Norman Ball retained his seat in a very close race with Republican David Kuffa, and Daniel Gay took a vacated borough councilman seat. No other races there were contested.

Republican Hoyt Keiser took a win over Tammy Balewski with 52 percent of the vote for a seat as a Tunkhannock Township Supervisor. Billy Ball beat Democrat Terry Puterbaugh in the race for Washington Township Supervisor by a 19 percent margin.

Abe Kukuchka swept most of the votes in Eaton Township to take a seat among the supervisors that was vacated by Randy Ehrenzeller upon his retirement.

One of the more unusual results in a municipal race as of Wednesday morning was found in the tally for Overfield Township Supervisor. John Manglaviti and Peggy Leonhart were tied at 150 votes each, but 171 write-in votes were recorded. Fifty write-in votes were recorded for an unnamed Meshoppen Borough councilman. Kellett related that the official results will be reported on Monday, Nov. 13 at 9 am.

There was also a virtual dead heat in the Wyalusing Area Region 3 School Board race in the Laceyville area with Carmen Bolin, Nick Deangelo and Kimberly Yochen each receiving 117 votes. John Marianacci was close behind at 112 votes. In that case, Kellett sends the results to Bradford County to determine the winner.

As of mid-morning Wednesday, 99.28 percent of voting precincts across Pennsylvania had been counted. Wyoming County’s contributions to the statewide races included 3,791 votes (73%) for Sallie Mundy as Supreme Court Justice over Democrat Dwayne Woodruff. Mundy took the state race with a little more than 52 percent of the vote.

While 17 percent of county votes were cast for Republican Mary Murray for Superior Court Judge and 16 percent Emil Giordano, Democrats in southeast metropolitan areas appear to have put Maria McLaughlin and Deborah Kunselman at the top of the list with 14 and 13 percent, respectively. McLaughlin was the recipient of the most Democratic votes locally at roughly 10 percent.

Countywide, two thirds of the voters said “yes” to a Tax Assessment Exclusion reforendum that could lead to abolition of property taxes to fund schools. The state-wide tally was a little closer with 54 percent of the voters checking “yes.”

In Wyoming County, Commonwealth Court Judge candidate Christine Cannon edged fellow Republican Paul Lalley with 34 percent of the vote, and the top Democrat was Irene Clark at 17 percent. Statewide, the race was very tight with Cannon less than 7,000 votes ahead of Democrat Ellen Ciesler.

All state-wide Supreme Court retention votes were carried at both the county and the state level.

To view full unofficial tallies, interested readers may log on to www.wycopa.org and click on “election results.”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *