Heller on top in unofficial write-in tally for second Democratic county commissioner nomination

LOCK HAVEN, PA – An unofficial count by The Record shows that local Democrats were successful in securing that party’s second nomination for Clinton County Commissioner in Tuesday’s municipal primary election.

Incumbent Angela Harding was the lone Democrat on the Tuesday ballot, two to be nominated for inclusion on the November ballot to face off against GOP primary winners Jim Russo and incumbent Jeff Snyder. Democratic officialdom had encouraged party members to write-in the name of party member Joan Heller to deny any Republican the second Democratic nomination.

An informal Record count of election night results from individual precincts on the county website shows that Heller, a Beech Creek area resident, accrued more than 400 votes, well over the 100-vote threshold required to legally earn a place on the November ballot. The Record count showed no one else had gotten as many as the necessary 100 vote threshold. Doug Byerly, who finished fourth in the GOP commissioner primary, had contacted multiple Democrats, seeking their write-in votes for the second nomination; had his effort been successful, it would have given the GOP the opportunity to elect all three commissioners in November.

The November pairings won’t become official until after the county-conducted canvas and compilation board does its work, starting on Friday and after the county Board of Elections meets on June 2 to certify the results.

County registrar Maria Boileau told The Record the canvas board will begin its work on Friday to record more than 2,000 votes that voters wrote-in on Tuesday. She said unofficial results should be available on Monday or Tuesday of next week.