It's Osche, Geyer, Boozel
In January, Leslie Osche, Kim Geyer and Kevin Boozel will be sworn in as the new Butler County commissioners.
Republican Osche was the top vote getter at 20,449, according to unofficial results from Tuesday night. Republican Geyer was second with 18,094 votes, and Democrat Boozel won the third slot with 12,331 votes.
Democrat Jerry Johnston missed the cut with 10,014 votes while Green Party candidate Michael Bagdes-Canning had 2,296.
Osche said, “I'm totally overwhelmed at this point, and humbled by the turnout and the results.”
Current Republican commissioners Bill McCarrier and Dale Pinkerton declined to run for re-election. Democratic Commissioner Jim Eckstein lost his re-election bid in the primary.
Osche, 51, of Butler Township is the former executive director of the United Way of Butler County. She resigned from that position this year to run for commissioner.
She said she was excited to get to work with Geyer and Boozel.
“It looks like we'll have a great board going forward,” Osche said.
She said she looks forward to getting together with them soon.
“So we're ready to hit the ground running,” Osche said.
She said a main goal of hers is to work on the budget, and also said she wants to boost morale at the government center.
Like Osche, Boozel said he was overwhelmed by the support he received from voters as well as friends and family who helped with the campaign.
“I'm the most humbled person right now,” Boozel said.
Boozel, 44, of Mercer Township is the special project director for PA 2-1-1 Southwest.
He announced his candidacy 17 months before the election, and said he took some criticism for announcing so early. However, he said he viewed it as a 17-month job interview, and said it gave voters a chance to get to know him.
“They must have liked what they saw,” Boozel said.
Now that he has won, he said he will continue to work on the budget with the current commissioners.He also plans to sit down with Osche and Geyer to plan the direction the county will go in, and how to deal with the public in a way that is open and transparent.“I know that's their goal, and I guarantee you it's mine,” Boozel said.Geyer, 53, of Adams Township, who is a co-owner of Geyer Construction and is the administrative assistant to McCarrier, thanked supporters for helping her win.“I'm really excited,” Geyer said this morning.She looks forward to working with Osche and Boozel.“I know we can do great things for Butler County,” Geyer said.She said she wants to revitalize county government and make it more efficient. Additionally, she said she and the other two commissioners-elect plan to look at the county's financial state first thing.“We'll have our work cut out for ourselves,” Geyer said.The two Republican commissioners-elect have come a long way, having had to defeat eight other GOP candidates in the primary. Osche also came in first place in that election.In May, Geyer edged out Bob O'Neill of Cranberry Township to make it to the general election. After recounts and provisional ballot hearings, Geyer won by three votes.Johnston, 66, of Butler Township, who is the marketing coordinator for Butler County Community College off-campus locations, did not return a call Tuesday night.He also ran for commissioner in 2011, losing in the general election that year.This was the first time residents could vote for a third-party candidate in a countywide election. Bagdes-Canning, 62, of Cherry Valley made the most of it with a respectable showing, netting 3.6 percent of the vote.“We're actually really pleased. We would have been happy with 1,000 votes,” said Bagdes-Canning, the vice president of the Cherry Valley borough council.He said his goal was not so much to build a campaign but to start a movement to get an active Green Party in the county.“It's a good start,” Bagdes-Canning said.However, he keeps his borough council seat as he was unopposed in that race.
