Tyrone voters are set to cast ballots on Tuesday.
After eight years under the helm of Mayor Patricia Stoner, voters will elect a new mayor next week. During the spring primary, youth leader Jim Kilmartin defeated councilman Bill Fink by a margin of 100 votes on the Republican ballot. Kilmartin received 470 votes to Fink’s 370.
Kilmartin was also the top vote getter on the Democratic side in a write-in campaign in the spring. He bested Fink by an approximate two-to-one margin out of 185 write-in votes.
Kilmartin’s name appears on both the Republican and Democratic side on the Nov. 8 ballot.
Fink issued a press release to The Daily Herald yesterday stating that he had been “encouraged to run as a write-in candidate for the office of Mayor.” In a follow-up interview, Fink confirmed he is running a write-in campaign.
Also up for grabs in Tyrone Borough, are five council seats. There are three four-year terms and two two-year terms.
The four-year term candidates include three current council members seeking reelection. They are Republicans Virgie Werner and William Latchford and Democrat Jim Grazier. Democrats Dan Meckes and Edward Isenberg and Republican Sarah Jane Miller are opposing the incumbents.
The two two-year terms came about as a result of resignations of two former members of council, J. R. Watson and Sharon Dannaway. Watson resigned his seat last December. Don Boytim was appointed by council to replace him.
Tyrone Borough requires appointees that want to continue in their council seat to face voters in the next municipal election. Boytim ran as Republican and lost to Brian McManigal. However, Boytim won the Democratic nomination in the primary as a write-in candidate. In June, McManigal dropped out of the race for health reasons and withdrew his name from the ballot.
Tyrone Borough Manager Sharon Dannaway had taken a leave of absence from her council slot to serve as an interim manager in January. When she decided to accept that position permanently effective in August, she had to resign her council seat. The borough decided to appoint Mark Kosoglow to fill the term through the end of this year. The move created another two-year term for council to be decided by election in Tyrone.
At that point it was up to the Republican and Democratic parties to field candidates for the positions; one on the Democratic side and two on the Republican side.
The GOP submitted the names of two candidates, Stephen M. Hanzir, Jr. and Eric Detwiler, to appear on the November ballot. Three other people including appointee Kosoglow, expressed interest in the positions, but were not selected. The Democratic Party did not submit an additional name for the two-year term.
Residents from Tyrone, Snyder Township and other surrounding communities In Blair, Huntingdon and Centre County will also cast ballots for Tyrone Area School Board candidates next Tuesday.
Candidate Amy Stever was the top vote getter on both the Republican and Democratic ballots in the spring primary. She joins current school board members, Brian Bressler, William P. Hartsock and James Crawford on next week’s ballot. The four candidates are seeking four available positions to serve four-year terms on the school board. All four candidates will appear on both sides of the ballot.
Tyrone and other voters in Blair County will cast ballots for countywide positions including Common Pleas judgeships, district attorney, prothonotary, sheriff, jury commissioner, judge of elections and inspector of elections. Voters are also being asked to vote either “yes” or “no” regarding the retention of two Pennsylvania State Supreme Court judges.
