The 2017 primary election in Pennsylvania is a week away and local elections on the township level, as well as elections for school board and district judge are drawing the most attention.

The race with the most candidates is for district judge in the Kennett Square area. There are five candidates seeking the nomination for judge in District 15-03-04. They are David Cox, Lorraine Ramunno, Sean Rafferty, Jane Donze and Al Iacocca. All five cross-filed and are running on both the Republican and Democratic Party ballots.

District 15-03-04 covers Birmingham, Pennsbury, Pocopson, Newlin, Kennett and East and Marlborough townships and Kennett Square. The district bench has been vacant since Judge Daniel Maisano retired January 2016.

Also, cross-filing for school seats on the Unionville-Chadds Ford School District are four incumbents. In Region A, which includes East and West Marlborough, are School Board Directors Jeff Hellrung and Elise Anderson. In Region B, comprising Newlin, Pocopson and Birmingham townships, Steve Simonson and Tom Day are running. Day was appointed to the board earlier this year following the resignation of Michael Rock.

Supervisors' races are going on in all the townships. All the races are unopposed. The new wrinkle this year is in Concord Township where voters will choose, for the first time, township council members instead of supervisors.

Voters last year chose to change Concord's status from a township of the second class to a home rule charter and changed the governing structure from a five-member board of supervisors with supervisors' term of six years to a seven-member township council with council members serving four-year terms.

This year, incumbents Domini Pileggi, John Gillespie and Tom Mahoney will be running for full four-year terms. They are unopposed. Also running, but for two two-year terms are John Crosson and Joshua Twersky, who are also unopposed.

Those two-year terms are for the purpose of increasing the size of the governing body to seven. Once those initial terms expire, all council races will be for full four-year terms, with four seats up one year and three seats up two years later.

There are no Democrats running for Concord's Council, nor are there any running for township supervisor in Chadds Ford, Birmingham, Pennsbury or Pocopson.

In Chadds Ford Township, Noelle Barbone is running for a full six-year term. She ran two years ago to fill the last two years of the late Keith Klaver's term on the board. She is running unopposed in the primary.

Also running unopposed for supervisor are Wendell Fenton in Pennsbury, Ricky Stumpo in Pocopson and John Daniel Hill in Birmingham.

While there are no U.S. congressional races until next year, some candidates have already announced their intention to run in 2018.

Democrats Drew McGinty, Elizabeth Moro, Dan Muroff and Molly Sheehan will be seeking their party's nomination to challenge Republican U.S. Rep. Pat Meehan in the 7th Congressional District.

U.S. Sen. Bob Casey also faces challengers next year. Going after Casey are fellow Democrat Brian Kelly, and Republicans Jeff Bartos, Jim Christiana, Paul DeLong, Rick Saccone and Andrew Shecktor. Libertarian Dale Kearns is also looking for the LP

nomination to challenge Casey.

This year's primary is next Tuesday, May 16.

 

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