Special election means short but important term for 12th District
CRANBERRY TWP — At 8 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 18, voters in the 12th House District of Pennsylvania will have chosen their next state representative — for about three months.
Either Republican candidate Scott Timko or Democrat Brandon Dukes will win the special election once voters in Adams, Cranberry and Jackson townships and Callery, Evans City, Harmony, Mars, Seven Fields, Valencia and Zelienople boroughs cast their votes.
Voter turnout seemed strong for an election with only one race.
“It’s going to be a strong day,” Timko said outside the Cranberry Township Municipal Center, where he and Dukes spent a significant portion of their day.
The special election was spurred by the resignation in March of former Rep. Stephenie Scialabba. The winner of the special election will hold the seat until Nov. 30, the end of her term.
However, opinions differ on whether winning the special election will make that candidate a shoe-in for the Nov. 3 primary election when they face off again.
“Things are pretty much well established,” said voter Dan Heisler about political affiliations in the township.
Heisler voted in the township municipal center, which held Cranberry Township West precincts 2, 3 and 5. He said the special election was just as important as any primary election regardless of term length. However, he worries about sensationalism swaying the opinions of voters who don’t do their research.
“(We) leave no stone unturned,” Dukes said outside the Adams Ridge Club House where precinct Adams Township 1 was located.
He said he still felt the special election was up in the air Tuesday morning, but said the primary election will have a larger voter turnout that could change the result. Dukes said he’d also talked to Republicans on Tuesday who pledged their votes to him.
Matthew Deslandes, a newcomer to Cranberry Township from Columbus, Ohio, said he was surprised to see Timko and Dukes standing outside the same precinct. He said he hadn’t yet gotten a good feeling of the area’s political leanings, but could tell both candidates meant well based on their rhetoric and political ads.
If you hadn’t met the candidates before or knew anything about them, “you would think both are good people,” Deslandes said.
