Dems appear to maintain control of Northampton County Council

The race for five at-large Northampton County Council seats among 10 candidates remained too close to call Wednesday.

Three of four Democratic incumbents are leading in their bids for reelection, according to unofficial results. If those results stand, the party would retain control of the county’s legislative body.

Democratic incumbents Tara Zrinski and Lori Vargo Heffner held leads and were running one and two for much of Tuesday night and Wednesday. The remaining three spots were much closer, with incumbent Democrat Ronald R. Heckman and Republicans John P. Goffredo, John Brown and Nicole Romanishan separated by less than 250 votes.

As of Wednesday evening, unofficial results showed Zrinski had 33,367 votes and Lori Vargo Heffner had 32,104. Goffredo had the third most votes, with 31,985, then Heckman (31,817) and Brown (31,759). Romanishan trailed Brown by 15 votes.

Becky Bartlett, county deputy administration director, said the votes will remain unofficial until election officials canvass the ballots, a process that begins 9 a.m. Friday. A news release issued later Wednesday said official results would not be released until they are certified by the county election commission.

If the results hold, Democrats would retain a narrow edge, 5-4, on the nine-person council.

Heckman said Wednesday he went to bed thinking he had lost, but his wife, Margaret, woke him up and said the numbers had changed.

“If it holds,” he said, “I’m very glad to have made it.”

Heckman, who has been on council since 2010 and served two terms previously, said when the county tabulated write-in votes, it appeared all five Democrats were in line to win. But Republicans performed well at the polls Tuesday, he said.

“I underestimated how well [Republicans] performed on walk-in votes,” said Heckman, who formerly headed the county human services department.

Neither Romanishan nor Lee Snover, the county Republican chairperson, returned messages seeking comment.

Brown, the former county executive who lost his 2017 reelection campaign for executive to Lamont McClure, was picked by the county GOP following the spring primary that saw candidate Scott Hough pull out.

Brown, the last Republican to hold the county executive seat and previously Bangor mayor, and the other GOP candidates, Goffredo, Romanishan, Kristin Lorah Soldridge and Annamarie Robertone, ran a unified campaign focusing, among other things, on improving Gracedale, the county-run nursing home, cutting taxes, supporting police and first responders, and preserving open space.

Heading into the election, seven-term Republican Council member Peg Ferraro chose not to seek reelection.

The Democrats, particularly the incumbents, ran on their records of also holding the line on property taxes and providing county services before and during the pandemic. Council is in the midst of deliberating on a proposed $528.1 million budget that would cut property taxes by 1 mill.

Democrats hold a nearly 20,000-vote edge over Republicans among the county’s registered voters, 44.7%-36%.

Zrinski and Heffner and were elected to council in 2017. Zrinski works for SunPulse Solar and is an adjunct professor. Heffner, council president, has worked as a mental health counselor.

William McGee, who also was elected to council in 2017 but appears to have been defeated in his reelection bid, works as a business manager for the International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers union. The other Democrat to apparently lose, Patti Bruno, owns a political consulting business.

Goffredo is a project manager at Nu Cor Management, a construction consulting firm. Soldridge works at a local insurance company. Romanishan has experience as a banker and tax collector, and Robertone is a former pharmaceutical sales representative and a business owner, and adjunct professor.

Council members earn $9,500 per year, with the council president receiving an additional $500. The other four council members represent geographic regions, and were not up for election this year.