Several county and district officials running unopposed
Barring a successful write-in effort from left field, a few countywide and district officials already know the outcome of the Nov. 3 election.
Washington County Coroner S. Timothy Warco secured Democratic and Republican nominations in the primary when no challenger emerged from either party.
Warco, 64, of Washington, plans to begin his seventh four-year term as coroner when officials take their oaths of office in January. The current salary of the coroner, who investigates unexpected deaths, is $78,023.
Mary Jo Poknis, the incumbent Democratic register of wills and clerk of orphan’s court, is running for her third term. The office probates wills, collects state inheritance taxes and maintains records related to wills’ fiduciary accounts, marriage licenses, adoptions and estates of incapacitated persons. Because of the office’s dual role, the annual salary is $80,023.
Washington County’s longest-serving elected official, Clerk of Courts Barbara Gibbs, plans to retire at the end of her current term, and there was a spirited contest on the Democratic ballot to succeed her.
Frank Scandale, 47, of Canonsburg, emerged victorious from the contest, and a Republican who filed for the seat withdrew after the validity of his nominating petitions was challenged. The clerk of courts is the filing office for adult and juvenile criminal cases and miscellaneous matters, including bail. The salary is identical to that of the coroner.
Two magisterial district judge races were decided in the primary, with incumbent Robert W. Redlinger winning Democratic and Republican nominations in Washington and North Franklin and Traci McDonald-Kemp doing the same in Cecil, Robinson and Mt. Pleasant townships and McDonald Borough.
Also running without opposition in the general election are Curtis L. Thompson, whose magisterial district includes Beallsville, Bentleyville, Cokeburg, Deemston, Ellsworth, Marianna, North Bethlehem, Somerset, West Bethlehem and West Pike Run, and Ethan Ward, whose district includes Amwell, Blaine, Buffalo, Claysville, Donegal, East Finley, Green Hills, Hopewell, Independence, Morris, South Franklin, West Finley and West Middletown.
The salary of a district judge is $88,290, and they are elected to six-year terms. They handle traffic violations, landlord-tenant disputes, small-claims civil cases and preliminary hearings in criminal cases.