November Commissioner Lineup Set: Snyder/Kessinger vs. Harding/Conklin
LOCK HAVEN – Clinton County’s municipal primary did little more than set the lineup for the November runoffs with one notable exception: the Republican four-candidate race for that party’s two commissioner nominations.
When the unofficial count was completed Tuesday night, incumbent GOP commissioner Jeff Snyder easily won re-nomination for a third term. He will be joined in November by former commissioner Miles Kessinger who pulled away from newcomer Michele Whitney for the party’s second slot.
The final, unofficial totals showed Snyder with 2,203 votes, Kessinger with 1,703, Whitney with 1,627 and Mitch Christensen with 800. A pleased Snyder came to the Piper Building election night and said, “The people are paying attention” and said county government is “working as a team,” noting recent word that county prison operations have come in $552,000 under budget. He thanked the voters for their support.
The two Republicans will be matched up in November with the lone two Democrats on the primary ballot, incumbent Paul Conklin and political newcomer Angela Harding. The election night totals: Harding, 1,766, and Conklin, 1,727. Top three November vote-getters will become commissioners in January of next year. Incumbent commissioner Pete Smeltz did not seek re-election.
Otherwise Tuesday served to finalize opponents for one contested November race, Prothonotary where incumbent Marie Vilello (D) will be opposed by Cindy Love (R).
Other county row offices on the ballot will see all prospective November walkovers: District Attorney Dave Strouse (D); Register & Record Jennifer Hoy (R) and Sheriff Kerry Stover (D) all without November opponents.
There were three candidates for county auditor, Republicans Rita O’Brien and Brooke Fravel and Democrat Michelle Crowell. All three are assured election in November.
Two Keystone Central School Board races were contested. One saw incumbent Debra Smith fall to former board member/district administrator Jeff Johnston in Region IV and appointed board member Elisabeth Lynch win both party nominations in Region II, the GOP nod over Greg Mayes and the Democratic nomination over Paul Washington.
State Rep. Fred Keller easily carried Clinton County while sweeping to victory in the special election to Congress from Pennsylvania’s 12th district. Unofficial overnight election results showed Keller, a Republican, with a better than 2-to-1 lead over his Democratic challenger, Penn State faculty member Marc Friedenberg.
