Published: October 31, 2009 11:49 pm      

Officials expecting lackluster turnout for off-year election

With only a few hotly contested local races and some state judgeships at stake Tuesday, election officials and a political analyst are expecting a low voter turnout at the polls in Cambria and Somerset counties.

Although weather is not expected to be a factor in keeping voters from casting ballots, turnout is expected to be only between 20 percent and 25 percent, they say.

And even though political ads have turned nasty in the state Supreme Court race, that is not expected to drive turnout any higher than 20 percent to 25 percent of registered voters statewide, said G. Terry Madonna, a political analyst based at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster.

But Fred R. Smith, Cambria election supervisor, is hoping about 37 percent of the county’s voters will go to the polls, following a tradition of higher local turnout than generally seen across Pennsylvania.

In Somerset County, election supervisor Tina Pritts said there has been no excitement and turnout there likely will not top 20 percent.

Even party chairmen are not optimistic.

Robert A. Gleason Jr., both the county and and state GOP chairman, predicts 20 percent to 25 percent both locally and across Pennsylvania.

Helen Whiteford, Cambria County Democratic chairwoman, suggests turnout will reach 25 percent in this off-year election.

As for the weather, “it looks dry and partly sunny,” said Eric Wilhelm, a senior meteorologist with AccuWeather in State College. The temperature will be in the 30s early in the day and is expected to reach 45 in the afternoon, he said.

In Cambria County, an intense battle by three candidates for two open county judgeships is expected to attract voters’ interest along with races for Johnstown mayor and City Council, Smith said.

District Attorney Patrick Kiniry is hoping to follow in the footsteps of the county’s last four top prosecutors, all of whom became county judges.

He won nomination by both the Democratic and Republican parties in the spring.

The other two contenders are Johnstown-area lawyer Linda Rovder Fleming and Ebensburg lawyer Gary Jubas, who is a part-time assistant district attorney.

Fleming captured a GOP nomination while Jubas took the second Democratic nomination. Both are registered Democrats.

If elected, Fleming would be the first woman to serve on the Cambria County bench.

With Democrats holding a 2-to-1 voter registration edge in Cambria, some political watchers see Kiniry and Jubas having an edge. But others suggest that Fleming, with grass-roots backing, may end up a winner with bipartisan support.

In Somerset County, President Judge John M. Cascio is up for retention election, with a yes-or-no vote for another 10-year term.

Cascio, 63, was appointed to the bench in February 1988, elected to his first full term in 1989 and retained in 1999.

The only contested countywide race in Somerset County is for prothonotary. Incumbent Angie Svonavec, a Democrat, is facing a challenge from Republican Larry E. Bevans Jr.

Svonavec has been the prothonotary since 1998. Bevans is employed by the Youth Advocate Programs in several school districts.

In Johnstown, Mayor Thomas Trigona, a Democrat who took over when Don Zucco stepped down as mayor in 2006, is facing a strong challenge from Republican Sharyn Spinelli.

Spinelli, a retired city businesswoman, said it’s time for a change to stronger leadership, while Trigona said she misunderstands the city’s weak-mayor form of government.

In the City Council race, eight candidates are running for the four seats up for election this year. Incumbents Bill Neatrour, a Democrat, and Ann Wilson, a Republican, are seeking re-election.

The other candidates are Pete Vizza, Marie Mock and Rose Englehart Howarth, all Democrats; Lonnie Rietscha and Richard Beauregard, both Republicans; and Gary Tokar, who registered as a member of A Grassroots Initiative.

In both counties, some local races could produce higher turnout. In Cambria County, there are hot write-in campaigns in Central Cambria School District and contests in Portage Township for supervisor, in Ebensburg for mayor and in Westmont for council.

In Somerset County, there are competitive races in Shade Township and Windber Borough.