A Butler County Community College board member is a candidate for county commissioner.

Kim Geyer, 52, of Adams Township announced today that she is seeking one of two Republican nominations in the May 19 primary.

Geyer, who also is county Commissioner Bill McCarrier's administrative assistant, said her lengthy experience working with local, state and federal officials makes her qualified for the post.

“I have 20 years of networking with state and federal officials,” she said.

Geyer said she began those efforts more than 20 years ago by traveling to Harrisburg to discuss issues affecting her school district.

“I started advocating independently as a mother and as a citizen,” she said.

That lobbying resulted in her conducting a write-in campaign for a seat on the Mars School Board, which she won.

Geyer said she wants to use the skills she learned doing years of advocacy and collaboration as a county commissioner.

Since becoming McCarrier's assistant, Geyer has continued working with state officials on behalf of the county.

She helped get special voting ballots in the 2012 presidential election for power company workers and emergency service volunteers so they could still vote and travel to New Jersey and help victims of Hurricane Sandy.

“We were able to make special accommodations for them,” Geyer said.

She also lobbied to keep Cranberry Township in a state senatorial district with other county municipalities rather than be lumped in with Allegheny County municipalities.

“Cranberry Township is an integral part of Butler County,” Geyer said, referring to its role in economic development.

This is Geyer's second run for commissioner. She lost in the 2011 primary.

She served three terms on the Mars School Board, four years as president, as well as vice president of the Midwestern Intermediate Unit board, representing school districts in Butler, Lawrence and Mercer counties.

Geyer and her husband, Bob, own a commercial construction company.

She was awarded the 2004 Pennsylvania School Board Association's Lifetime Achievement award, the 2009 Commonwealth Education Organizations' Woman of Character Award and a 2010 proclamation from the Pennsylvania Senate for statewide work and contributions in education policy.

Geyer is a GOP committeeman representing Adams, the county's southwest regional chairman for the county party, a member of the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy, a trustee of the St. Barnabas Health System's Medical Center and a board member of the Local Government Academy.

She has two grown children.

Geyer joins Jeff Smith, Larry Thompson, Leslie Osche and Lisa Metcalfe as Republican candidates for commissioner.

Incumbent Republicans Bill McCarrier and Dale Pinkerton have not expressed an interest in seeking re-election.

Jerry Johnston and Kevin Boozel are running for Democratic nominations. Incumbent Democrat Commissioner Jim Eckstein has not made a formal announcement, but has stated he will seek re-election.