2019 primary election: Borough voters will elect four mayors, council members

Residents of boroughs in Carbon County will elect council members in each of the 12 municipalities, in addition to four mayor positions that will also be determined.

Nominations for those positions within the Democratic and Republican parties will take place during the primary election of May 21, while formal elections will be determined in the general election on Nov. 5.

Here’s what the ballot lineups will look like in the respective boroughs:

Beaver Meadows

Beaver Meadows is one of the borough’s that will elect a mayor, since Jeff Bobish resigned the term he won two years ago. That means the voters there will elect someone to serve the final two years of that term. However, there are no candidates who filed to get their names on either ballot for the position.

The borough voters will also fill four four-year terms on the borough council. Only three Democrats are seeking nominations, including Alfred J. Mitcho Jr., Anthony A. Rusnock and Martha Steber.

Bowmanstown

Like Beaver Meadows, Bowmanstown has a two-year term for mayor that will be determined, since William Ravert resigned to take a position on the borough council.

There is only one candidate for the position: Zachary Snyder, a Republican who was appointed to fill Ravert’s vacancy and who is likely to win the election unless a Democratic candidate wins that party’s nomination via the write-in method.

The borough voters will also fill a two-year term and three four-year terms on the town council.

For the two-year term, Ravert and Joseph Rodrigues Jr. are seeking the Republican nomination. There are no Democratic candidates for the term.

For the three four-year terms that are available, three Republicans are aspiring to nominations, including Norman A. Engle Jr., Pamela J. Leiby and Ravert. Kara Scott is the only Democrat on the ballot. Three of the four people will get elected in the general election.

East Side Borough

Voters in East Side Borough will elect three council members to four-year terms this year.

There are three Democrats running for their party’s nominations, including John P. Marotta, Rudolph C. Schoch and Helen Stockinger, while the lone Republican running is John M. Cepiel. Three out of the four candidates will win terms in November.

Jim Thorpe

There will be three people elected to four-year terms on the Jim Thorpe Borough Council in 2019.

Four Democrats and one Republican are seeking their parties’ nominations.

The Democrats are Jay T. Miller, Robert C. Schaninger, Kyle J. Sheckler, and Michael J. Yeastedt.

The top three Democrats will face Republican John T. McGuire in November, when three of the four will get elected.

Lansford

Lansford Borough voters are scheduled to elect one person to fill the two-year term as mayor, where Bob Silver won the post but accepted a council position instead, clearing the way for former Mayor James Romankow to return to that seat for the past two years.

Romankow is not running, however, and there is only one candidate for the post. Likely to win the mayor’s office, barring a write-in effort on the Democratic side, is Republican Michele Bartek.

Meanwhile, four four-year terms on the borough council are up for grabs. There will be no primary challenges for the nominations, but six people are likely to face off for the four posts in November.

The Democratic candidates are Lou Labosky and Mary Beth Soberick, while the Republicans have four, William Chuma, Martin S. Ditsky, Bruce Markovich and John Turcmanovich.

Lehighton

Lehighton Borough voters will fill four four-year terms on the borough council this year.

There are two Democrats and two Republicans seeking their parties’ nominations.

The Democrats are Grant R. Hunsicker and William Rodweller. On the GOP side are Darryl W. Arner and Lisa Perry.

Nesquehoning

Four people will get elected to four-year terms on the Nesquehoning Borough Council this time around.

There is only one Democratic candidate, that being Frank Jacobs, while two Republicans are seeking nominations, Michael J. Radocha, and George Sabol.

Parryville

No one is running for two borough council seats available in the Borough of Parryville.

The town voters are expected to elect one person to a two-year term and one person to a four-year term, however, neither the Democratic nor Republican parties have a filed candidate.

Palmerton

Voters in the Borough of Palmerton will elect one person to serve a two-year term and three people to serve four-year terms on the borough council starting in 2020.

For the two-year term, there are two Republican candidates wanting to win the nomination. They are Michael J. Ballard and Andrew J. Hollywood. There is no Democratic candidate for the two-year term.

There are three Democrats and three Republicans running for the three four-year terms on the council. Assured their parties’ nominations, the six will square off against each other on Nov. 5.

The Democratic candidates are Randolph Gursky, Holly F. Hausman Sell and Donald F. Heiney, while the GOP candidates are Terry Costenbader, Hollywood and Joseph Slovick.

Summit Hill

Five seats on the Summit Hill Borough Council will be filled in 2019, including one for a two-year term and four for four-year terms.

Five Democrats are running for the two-year term nomination, including Michael Kokinda II, Gregory V. Kosciolek, Sara Rush, Karen Ruzicka and David A. Wargo.

For the four four-year terms, there are six candidates, including the five listed above and Joe “Kossie” Kosalko.

There are no Republican candidates in Summit Hill for either the two-year term nor the four-year terms.

Weatherly

Weatherly Borough voters will select a new mayor in 2019, as Mayor Tom Connors, a Democrat, has not filed to seek re-election to a four-year term. There is only one candidate, that being Republican Paul J. Hadzick, who is likely to become the mayor unless write-in vote create a Democratic candidate other than him.

Meanwhile, borough voters will elect two people to serve four-year terms on the town council.

One Democrat and two Republicans are on the respective ballots, who are likely to square off in November for the two terms. The Democrat is Joseph A. Thomas, while the GOP candidates are Joseph M. Cyburt and George E. Miller.

Weissport

There are two four-year terms on the Weissport Borough Council to be elected this time around.

Two Democrats are running for the positions, including Arland F. Moyer Sr. and Linda Schoenberger. There are no Republican candidates.