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County Office Races Were Often Close
Posted 6-5-1999
As the dust continues to settle from Primary '99 in Westmoreland County, we are seeing
a sincere dialogue from Democratic nominees for county offices who are discussing running
as a unified slate. My last article focused solely on the Commissioner's race and this
article I'd like to update you on what transpired in the other county-wide elections.
The two Democratic nominees for Judge are
Tony Marsili and Al Bell. Both candidates ran good campaigns and Tony particularly,
capitalized on his experience from the 1997 election. Tony lead the ticket with over
17,000 votes while Al ran second with over 13,400. Gary Falatovich, running county-wide
for the first time, put on a strong effort and came in third with over 11,000 votes.
Several other candidates were bunched together on the Democratic side including Michelle
Bononi, State Rep. Joe Petrarca, and Annaliese Masser. With nine candidates for judge
geography played a role in the outcome. Tony drew an extremely large vote from the
northern end of the county and did well enough other places to parlay his total into an
impressive victory. Don't forget, Tony is really a Jeannette native and he had a base in
that part of the county too. Al Bell proved ballot position isn't critical as he was
buried on the bottom row of the ballot, yet still ran strong through the central and
southern parts of the county. Al's name recognition and political experience helped him
separate himself from other candidates.
The Democratic side is only half the story
though, and there is an election in November. Michelle Bononi, who worked extremely hard
and made a strong showing on the Democratic side, cruised to victory on the Republican
ticket. Second place went to John Sweeney who pulled things out late in the evening from
Ann Wohlgemuth and Annaliese Masser.
Look for the judges' race to be pretty
competitive, just like the Commissioners'. The other races probably won't be as hotly
contested in the fall. Chris Scherer won by over 6,000 votes for Sheriff. He certainly
used his regional advantage against a group of candidates from central Westmoreland
County. But in addition to his strong northern vote, Chris ran pretty well everywhere and
that is why his margin was comfortable. I think Chris can capitalize on that county-wide
appeal and roll to victory in the fall.
The Treasurer's race was one that a lot of
people, myself included, thought would be close. But Kathlyn O'Brien proved us wrong and
coasted to an easy win by a 2-1 margin over Cindy Blissman. Cindy worked hard, spent money
and forced Kathlyn to spend money but it didn't matter. Mrs. O'Brien proved with a popular
name and an office free of controversy, it is extremely difficult to unseat an incumbent.
The closest race was for the open seat for
Recorder of Deeds. Tom Murphy, perhaps the most friendly, energetic candidate in any race
won by about 1,800 votes over Joe Zello and Elaine Grace. Again, one candidate from the
north with a bunch from the center of the county proved to be tough. Joe and Elaine
certainly had more knowledge about the office than Tom, but he worked very hard and had
been through a county-wide race four years ago. That experience helped Tom in not only
knowing how to organize, but I think helped his confidence when traveling into different
communities. County elections can be intimidating when going into uncharted territory, but
to be successful a candidate has to compete everywhere. That is because every vote counts
and often issues don't surface in Row Office races.
A couple of other office holders didn't
have opponents in the Primary, Controller Jeff Pavetti and Register of Wills Earl Keim.
Only Earl has opposition in November. But I'm eager for the candidates to get together and
discuss the value of a united effort by Democrats to win ALL the seats. If we stick
together, share a message of competent, fiscally-responsible government, and all work
hard, I think we'll be OK.
I'm sure the most questions surround myself
and Tom Ceraso. But I think from preliminary discussions with Tom, that we'll work
together. That in itself is something new for Democrats. Since 1983 when Ted Simon and
John Regoli ran as a team, the Democrats haven't run together. Vidmer and Simon were not
united in 1987 or 1991 and in 1995 Dick paid me lip service but was quietly trying to get
Democrats to vote for Terry Marolt. We don't have to play those games anymore. Tom and I
share campaign principles of running government like a business, hiring people based on
qualifications, and awarding contracts through real competition. If those ideas bond us
through the campaign and in office things can only get better for county government. |
