Judges, mayors most contentious races for Butler County voters
Butler County voters in select municipalities had mayors and school board and council members run in tightly contested elections, but every voter also got to decide whether or not to retain three Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices.
Justices Kevin Dougherty, David Wecht and Christine Donohue were up for retention to another 10-year term in the Nov. 5 election. Some voters turned out just to keep them, while others turned out just to vote against them. Seats on both the state Commonwealth and Superior courts were also up for retention votes.
“I don’t think anyone should be handed 10 more years,” said Ingrid Bender, a Cranberry Township voter.
Critics of the justices’ performances, such as Debbie Macurak, Fairview Township committeewoman for Butler County Republican Committee, blamed the judges for schools and small businesses closing during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
Other voters voiced support for term limits for judges, raising concerns another 10 years is a long time for justices to serve.
Slippery Rock saw one of the more contentious ballots in the county with two candidates running for mayor and six candidates running for three borough council seats.
Mayor Jondavid Longo and Democratic challenger Doug Cook stood on opposite sides of the walk-up to the Slippery Rock voting precinct at the Slippery Rock Park building Tuesday morning greeting voters.
Voter Ralph Hetrick said he didn’t like the tactics he said Cook used against Longo.
Terri Hill, a first-time voter in Slippery Rock, said she’s heard from neighbors Longo already has performed his mayoral duties well, which is why she voted for him.
Allyson Kryl, who said she voted against Longo, said she liked Cook’s fresh perspective and did not like Longo’s leadership attitude.
“He’s not someone you want to see leading your community,” Kryl said.
For borough council, some voters said they just want to see new faces. That included Andrew Calvin, who said the current iteration of borough council has not responded effectively to citizens’ concerns.
In Butler, Republican mayoral candidate Donald Shearer, write-in candidate Tom Donaldson and city council Democratic candidate Lisa Quebedeaux stood outside Butler Area Public Library at one point in the day, greeting voters as they came.
Quebedeaux said of the 2,000 or so houses she canvassed before the election, the vast majority voted early.
She encouraged voters to participate in municipal elections, saying votes in municipal elections carry more weight than with millions of people voting in federal elections.
For voters such as Michael Cannon, a Butler voter who said he hasn’t missed an election in 37 years, every election is mandatory. However, he said he feels less nervous about this election compared to the presidential election.
The election wasn’t without its problems, though. Michael Kidder, who stood outside various precincts in Butler handing out information on Republican candidates, said he had six city residents come to him asking for directions to their correct voting precinct.
“The vast majority of people who show up just want people to be civil,” Kidder said.
In Fairview Township, Karns City Area school board Republican candidate William Weibel and Libertarian candidate Morgen Mogus stood outside Fairview Township municipal building welcoming voters.
The two decided on the location because it is one of the precincts in the Karns City Area School District that sees the most voters, they said.
The school board has seven candidates with Republican, Democratic, Libertarian and independent backgrounds vying for four seats.
Regarding who to vote for, Fairview Township voter Patricia Tascarella said she wants to know children in Karns City Area School District are being taught the right things, she said. She added she also wanted to see some new faces on the school board.
