And then there were 14. The field of candidates for Butler County commissioner in the May 19 primary has 10 Republicans and four Democrats.

Prospect Mayor James Butler on Tuesday turned in a petition for his candidacy in a crowded race for the three-seat board.

Primary voting will narrow the pool down to two nominations from each party.

Ed Natali, chairman of the county Republican Committee, said it’s beneficial to have such a large number of candidates.

“It will bring a lot of topics to the forefront,” Natali said.

Due to a majority of Republican voters in the county and going by the composition of past boards, the GOP nominees headed into the fall election would be the likely board majority in 2016.

Natali said a candidate would have to stand out with 10 competitors in the race.

“You’re going to have to do something that’s going to be an attention getter,” he said.

Natali is confident the party will end up with two good nominees for the fall.

“It will be highly competitive,” he said about the primary race. “At the end of the day, the two winners will be solid candidates.”

Butler joins Kim Geyer, Jim Keffalas, Mark Lux, Lisa Metcalfe, Bob O’Neill, Leslie Osche, Jeff Smith, Larry Thompson and Justin Trainor on the GOP ballot.

Incumbent Republican commissioners Bill McCarrier and Dale Pinkerton are not seeking re-election.

The Democratic candidates are incumbent Commissioner Jim Eckstein, Kevin Boozel, Dave Johnston and Jerry Johnston. The Johnstons are not related.

Georgiann Kerr, chairman of the county Democratic Committee, said she’s glad to see several people vying for the Democratic nominations.

“Local politics is so important,” Kerr said.

She, too, said the candidates would have to distinguish themselves from each other.

“Get out to the public and tell them what your platform is,” Kerr said.

Robin Redding added her name as a Republican candidate for county register of wills/clerk of orphans’ court.

Redding is self-employed, working in sales and marketing. She also is the vice chair of the county Republican Committee.

She joins Margaret Abersold, Sarah Fair Edwards and Eric Gordon in seeking the GOP nomination for the dual row office.

Register Judy Moser is retiring at the end of the year. There are no Democratic candidates for the post.

Other county candidates are District Attorney Richard Goldinger, Treasurer Diane Marburger, Recorder of Deeds Michelle Mustello and Prothonotary Glenna Walters, who all are running unopposed.

Candidates for county seats were required to obtain at least 250 signatures by Tuesday.

Any of those petitions can be challenged in court for their validity. If challenged, the names are verified to ensure they are county residents registered to vote with their respective political party.

Other candidate documentation also could be challenged.