Scialabba, McCune win judge nominations
John Scialabba and Matthew McCune are likely to become the county’s next two Common Pleas Court judges after winning party nominations in the Tuesday primary.
McCune, the son of retiring Judge Timothy McCune, led the Republican and Democratic ballots followed by Scialabba, the husband of state Rep. Stephenie Scialabba, R-12th, according to unofficial election results reported in Butler County Bureau of Elections summary reports on Tuesday, May 20.
Both candidates will appear on both party ballots in the November general election.
Scialabba and McCune cross filed in the primary. Clarion County public defender Jake Roberts and James Insco II ran only on the Republican ballot.
McCune received 7,840 Democratic votes and 11,744 Republican votes, according to the unofficial results.
He said he has kept his “foot on the gas” of his campaign since January.
“I just tried to get the message out there that I want to do right by the community and give back to the community,” McCune said. “I feel a duty to public service. The community needs and deserve a good person to do the work and I feel I’m that person.”
Scialabba received 6,380 Democratic votes and 11,233 Republican votes, according to the unofficial results.
“I am incredibly grateful for my family, friends and amazing community. I look forward to serving Butler County as one of its next judges of the Butler County Court of Common Pleas,” Scialabba said. “I am proud of the campaign that we ran. Being involved in this community in various capacities has allowed me to meet and get to know so many amazing people. I’m forever grateful to the voters of Butler County.”
Also on the Republican ballot, Insco, a partner in the Pittsburgh and Louisville, Ky., offices of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani law firm, received 4,768 votes and Roberts, a public defender in Clarion County, received 2,658 votes, according to the unofficial results. The two did not cross file to appear on the Democratic ballot.
One judge office is open due to the retirement of Judge Timothy McCune at the end of the year. He serves in the criminal court division. The second office is a new position representing the county’s seventh Common Pleas Court judge.
President Judge S. Michael Yeager will assign the new judges to serve in the court’s criminal, civil, family, juvenile or orphan’s divisions sometime after the November election.
The new judge’s position was created by Act 58 in 2023. The law added Common Pleas Court judge positions in six counties, including Butler, to reduce the caseloads of the existing judges. Common pleas judges are state employees, not county employees, whose starting annual salaries are $227,411 for 2025. Judges are elected to 10-year terms in office.
The last expansion of the Common Pleas Court bench came in 2006, when McCune took office as the sixth judge, after winning the election in 2005. He said he plans to serve as a senior judge following retirement.
