Dec 30, 2014 3 min read

The ballot in 2015, a municipal election year in which scores of local candidates vie for local and school district office, just got a little longer.

The terms of the Washington County commissioners and the majority of county row officers expire at the end of next year, but until Tuesday the only judicial offices that were to be on the ballot were in four magisterial districts.

The announcement that President Judge Debbie O’Dell Seneca plans to retire Jan. 5 leaves plenty of time for those interested in a seat on the county bench to contemplate their options before Feb. 17, the first day to circulate nominating petitions. The deadline for judicial candidates to file their petitions in Harrisburg is March 10, and the municipal primary is scheduled for May 19. The general election is Nov. 3.

Judicial candidates, like those running for school board, can have their names on the ballots of both Democrats and Republicans, so there is bound to be a flurry of activity in both major political parties.

Wes Parry, Washington County assistant elections director, first met O’Dell Seneca when he testified earlier this month at a hearing in which she presided on the reapportionment of voting precincts.

Because of the vacancy on the bench, Parry said 2015 just got “a lot more interesting, especially on the primary side of things. When you throw a judgeship into the mix, and the fact that they can cross-file, it might be interesting. It’s a commissioner year, too. You’ve got these positions in the county that are coveted, so, especially for the primary, it gets nuts.”

Parry first came to work in the Washington County elections office in September 2013, so 2015 will be his first municipal primary season there.

“I grew up in Washington County, so I’ve been around municipal primaries,” Parry said.

Judicial elections tend to draw many into the political contest.

In 2013, eight candidates filed for two openings on the bench. In 2005, another year in which there were two vacancies, 10 threw their hats into the ring.

Once elected, judges don’t have to go head-to-head with other candidates. If they seek an additional 10-year term, they run for retention with the electorate casting yes or no votes.

O’Dell Seneca’s departure marks the fourth time in three years that a Washington County judge is exiting the bench. Philippe Melograne, appointed by Gov. Ed Rendell in 2011 to replace the late Mark Mascara, who died in 2010, failed to win a nomination in and left the bench at the close of that year. The voters chose Gary Gilman. Paul Pozonsky retired in 2012 and now faces criminal charges of wrongdoing while in office. Judge Janet Moschetta Bell retired at the end of 2012 midway through her 10-year term.

The field was uncharacteristically sparse in 2011 when Melograne, running for a first term as an incumbent, faced just three opponents in the primary. In 2013, Valarie Costanzo and Michael Lucas each captured the top spots on the Democratic and Republican ballots, winnowing the field and assuring their eventual election in November of that year.

Costanzo’s former magisterial office in Cecil Township and three others will be on the ballot among the minor judiciary.