A little over 32% of registered voters came out for the 2017 General election in Indiana County, with several school board, municipal government and judicial positions up for grabs.
The big race on the county level was for the vacant seat in the Indiana County Court of Common Pleas. That went to Indiana-based attorney Mike Clark, who had 57.82% of the vote over District Attorney Pat Dougherty who had 41.86% of the vote. Last night, Clark talked about what he was going to do as he begins his transition from lawyer to judge, saying he would take a few days to relax and re-focus on his duties to come.
Dougherty was also quick to congratulate his opponent and said he is ready to work with Clark as he continues to serve the county as the District Attorney.
Two row offices were hotly contested last night, as Kimberly McCullough won a close race against Denise Jennings-Doyle for the Treasurer’s seat. McCullough said she was definitely looking forward to her first day of work, and forming good working relations with the staff of the Treasurer’s office.
In the Register of Wills/Recorder of Deeds/Clerk of Orphans Court race, Patty Streams-Warman overwhelmingly won over challenger James Smith, Jr. with 70.16% of the vote.
On the regional level, the Magesterial District Judge seat in Clymer went to Christopher Welch, who received 67.68% of the votes, with the remaining votes tallied as write-ins. Adam Lightcap had run an aggressive write-in campaign against Welch. Welch was very thankful to the voters in the Northern Indiana County region for voting him into office.
Other races of interest:
In the Indiana Mayoral race, incumbent mayor George Hood won over challenger James Rickard. Hood had 54.18% of the vote, with Rickard receiving 44.95%.
For Indiana School Board, Julia Trimarchi-Cuccaro won re-election to the board for a four-year term with 24.90% of the vote. Joining her on the board will be Tom Harley (22.17%), Ute Lowery (21.89%) and Barbara Barker (18.02%). Barker had also run for a two-year term, but lost that race to Terry Kerr, who received 55.38% of the votes in that race.
All results unofficial until the votes are certified by the election board.
