There will be a general election race for Judge of the Court of Common Pleas in November. In yesterday’s primary, Indiana County’s Democrats chose District Attorney Pat Dougherty for the vacant seat, while Republicans opted for attorney Mike Clark. All four candidates had cross-filed. Dougherty won the Democratic nod with 52 percent of the vote while Clark won the GOP primary with 41 percent. Dougherty finished second in the Republican race and Clark was runnerup on the Democrat ballot.
For Magisterial District Judge, based in Clymer, attorney Chris Welch won both the Republican and Democrat primaries in the race to replace retiring Judge George Thachik. In a seven-candidate field, Welch won 28 percent of the GOP votes and topped 26 percent of the Democratic tally.
The Indiana Area School Board race, with four positions open, generated a tremendous amount of interest because of the elementary school issue. The current board has approved a $32 million plan that would close two of the four elementary schools, renovate East Pike, and build a new Ben Franklin Elementary. All of the candidates chosen yesterday are vocally against the project, but there will be a race in November because of yesterday’s vote. Julia Trimarchi Cucaro topped the field for both Democrats and Republicans. Among Republicans, Tom Harley was second, Ute Lowery third, and Ken Ault fourth. The top vote-getters for Democrats were Trimarchi Cucaro, Lowery, Barbara Barker, and Harley, so in the general election five candidates will contend for four seats on the Indiana board, all of them against the elementary project. Incumbents John Ucellini and Jeffrey Geesey finished out of the running. Some members of the current Indiana board have said they will continue to press for the elementary project no matter how yesterday’s vote turned out.
