Incumbent commissioners fend off challengers
NORRISTOWN >> Fighting to retain their seats, the three incumbent Montgomery County commissioners fended off primary election challenges, winning their party’s nominations to move forward to the November general election ballot.
Incumbent Democrats Val Arkoosh, of Springfield Township, and Kenneth E. Lawrence Jr., of Plymouth Meeting, campaigning as a team, celebrated a primary election victory on Tuesday night, easily defeating Ray Sosa, of Wyncote, for their party’s two nominations.
Arkoosh garnered 48,398 votes and Lawrence received 46,841 votes, according to unofficial results with all 425 precincts reporting. Lagging far behind was Sosa, who captured 9,789 votes.
Incumbent Republican Commissioner Joe Gale, of Plymouth, captured the top spot on the Republican ballot with 16,233 votes, according to unofficial results. Fred Connor, of Whitpain, who garnered 16,114 votes, captured the second GOP nomination.
Gale ran as a team with his younger brother, Sean, who came up short in the balloting, garnering 14,420 votes to come in third, according to unofficial election returns.
Dean Eisenberger, of Plymouth, came in fourth in the GOP balloting with 14,454 votes, while France W. Krazalkovich, of Upper Pottsgrove, came in a very distant fifth with only 5,909 votes, according to unofficial results.
The two top vote-getters in each party on Tuesday won the right to move on to November’s general election ballot.
So, Gale and Connor will face Arkoosh and Lawrence for the three open seats in November.
The Democrats have held the majority seats on the three-member board since 2012 when they defeated the GOP leadership for the first time in more than 100 years.
The commissioners manage the county and set policies and set real estate taxes and are elected to four-year terms. They are responsible for the preparation, adoption and execution of the annual budget, have jurisdiction over county maintained roads and bridges and the supervision of the courthouse and other county-operated facilities.
Voters also will cast ballots for nine county row office posts in November.
During Tuesday’s primary election, incumbent District Attorney Kevin R. Steele captured 54,347 votes to win the Democratic nom
ination, according to unofficial election results. Steele ran unopposed for the nomination.
Steele is seeking his second term as district attorney and there was no GOP candidate seeking that party’s nomination for the post during Tuesday’s primary. Unless a Republican candidate wages a successful write-in campaign for district attorney in November, Steele will easily ride to his second term later this year.
During Tuesday’s primary election balloting, 2,263 write-in votes were cast on the GOP ticket for district attorney, according to unofficial results.
The Democratic and GOP candidates seeking their party’s nominations for the other eight county row offices during Tuesday’s primary election did not have challengers from within their parties and automatically moved on to the November ballot.
According to unofficial results, the candidates who won their party’s nominations on Tuesday for county row offices and their primary vote totals are:
• Sheriff – Incumbent Democrat Sean P. Kilkenny received 53,782 votes and Republican Melissa Bowers Palmer received 33,027 votes.
• Clerk of Courts – Democrat Lori Schreiber garnered 55,033 votes and Republican Tracy Moss-Carfagno garnered 34,484 votes. The winner in November will replace current Clerk of Courts Ann Thornburg Weiss, a Democrat, of Fort Washington, who is not seeking re-election.
• Controller – Incumbent Democrat Karen Geld Sanchez received 54,875 votes and Republican Stan Casacio received 34,340 votes.
• Coroner – Incumbent Democrat Michael Milbourne received 54,361 votes and Republican Annamarie Scannapieco received 34,583 votes.
• Prothonotary – Democrat Noah Marlier garnered 53,624 votes and Republican Nancy Quinn-Marsden garnered 33,464 votes. The winner in November will replace current Prothonotary Mark Levy, a Democrat, of Plymouth Meeting, who is not seeking re-election.
• Recorder of Deeds – Incumbent Democrat Jeanne Sorg received 54,137 votes and Republican Vicki J. Lightcap received 33,653 votes.
• Register of Wills – Incumbent Democrat D. Bruce Hanes received 53,942 votes and Republican John Trigg received 33,599 votes.
• Treasurer – Incumbent Democrat Jason E. Salus received 53,314 votes and Republican Tim Mahon received 32,519 votes.
Municipal elections are held in odd-numbered years.
According to county election figures, only 21.19 percent of registered voters showed up at the polls on Tuesday to cast ballots.