Here is one final reminder to get out to the polls on Tuesday to participate in the hyper-local election that will impact our region in just about every possible way.
There are dozens of school board candidates running for office. Contested races for critical board seats are up for grabs in just about every district, from Danville to Shikellamy, to Milton and Warrior Run, the coal region districts and Mifflinburg, Selinsgrove and Midd-West.
These directors, some re-elected, some new, will have a great impact on education in our region over the next handful of years.
There are contested commissioner races in two counties. While the three incumbents in Snyder and Union counties are unchallenged, there are contested Republican races in Montour and Northumberland counties. In Northumberland County, sitting commissioners Sam Schiccatano and Joe Klebon are running against former commissioner Vinny Clausi. One of them will be left off the fall ballot.
In Montour County, the commissioner board could be completely new next year. Incumbents Dan Hartman and Ken Holdren are not running and Trevor Finn, who is on the ballot as a Democrat, is also running to replace Lynda Schlegel Culver in the State House.
There will be changes in the judiciary as well. There is a contested race for District Attorney in Union County between Brian Kerstetter and Robyn Zenzinger. Michael O’Connell is the only candidate for DA on the ballot in Northumberland County, but sitting DA Tony Matulewicz is mounting a write-in campaign to retain his old job after missing the filing deadline.
Contested races for District Judge are also all around the region, from Mount Carmel to Middleburg.
In townships and boroughs across the region, there are about a dozen races with candidates on the ballots. There are far more empty spots.
You can probably count the number of races that will have a contested race in the spring and fall on two hands, most likely commissioners and school board races and that’s about it.
The overwhelming majority of races in the region will be settled on Tuesday — absent a third-party or independent candidate emerging after the primary.
There are dozens, probably more than a hundred, spots where there are no candidates, in some races, for either party.
Reasons for that are numerous, from too many municipalities that need supervisors, constables and auditors, to not enough people willing to step into the ring in today’s political climate.
Many have stood up to be counted. Be sure to read stories on many of the contested races at dailyitem.com to make the best decision possible on Tuesday.
And be sure to vote. While the building to 2024 is already beginning Tuesday’s election will have a significant local impact.
NOTE: Opinions expressed in The Daily Item’s editorials are the consensus of the publisher, top newsroom executives and community members of the editorial board. Today’s was written by Editor William Bowman.
