Venango County Election Results: Baker, McDaniel Secure Mayoral Nominations

| May 17, 2017

doug bakerFRANKLIN, Pa. (EYT) — The 2017 primary election is in the books, and for the most part, there were no surprises in the results.

In Franklin, incumbent Mayor Doug Baker claimed the Republican nomination with an easy win over challenger Ryan Witherup Rudegeair.

According to online results, Baker had 260 votes while his opponent had 173.

Baker will have little opposition in the November general election as there were no Democrats in the primary. There were 98 write-in votes on the Democratic ticket.

There are three at-large seats up for grabs on Franklin City Council, and there will be three Republicans and one Democrat on the ballot in November.

The Republicans are Donna Fletcher, who had 334 votes, Samuel Lyons with 330, and Michael Dulaney with 314.

The Democrat candidate will be James Johnson after he totaled 208 votes.

In Franklin’s Third District, Republican Fred Mays had 77 votes and Democrat Jane Dlugos had 41 votes to secure their respective spots in the November race for one seat.

In another competitive mayoral race, Sugarcreek Borough looks to have a new one in 2018 after Charles McDaniel claimed the Republican nomination.

McDaniel had 255 votes, beating current mayor Jeff MacKenzie, who finished with 214. Sidney Gramley received 74 votes.

There was no Democratic candidate, but there were 100 write-in votes on the ticket.

For Sugarcreek Borough council, in District 1, Larry Joe Baughman won with 58 votes, and in District 5, Robert Resinger edged James Speth, 90-88.

In Cranberry Township, for the four-year term as tax collector position, Carol Anne Wilson had little trouble in beating her three challengers.

Wilson claimed 368 votes. Betsy Kellner was her nearest challenger with 123 votes. There were no Democratic candidates for the position.

In Oil City, there are a pair of seats open on the council and two incumbents, Democrat Michael Poff, Jr., and Republican Isaiah Dunham, came away with their respective nominations. Dunham had 327 votes, while Poff had 180.

While there was little competition in most races across the county, races for seats on school boards in Oil City and Franklin were the exact opposite.

Oil City has five open spots with all nine candidates cross filing.

On the Republican ticket, there was a tie for the final spot on the November ballot.

The top five vote-getters were Fred Weaver (409), Joseph McFadden (355), Diana Davis (353), and Chris Hibbard (349).

Robert Hicks and Mark Kerr tied for fifth with 318 votes.

On the Democratic side, there was also a tie for the fifth spot.

Davis led with 231 votes while Hibbard had 197, McFadden with 175, and Hicks with 167.

The tie for fifth on the Democratic side had Kerr and Weaver both garnering 159 votes.

The official count, scheduled for Friday, could break the fifth-place ties.

In Franklin, there are four spots open on the school board.

On the Republican ticket, the top four vote-getters were Major Smith with 619, Brian Spaid with 600, Tracey Leyda had 511, and Ron Richburg had 431.

For the Democrats, Smith was first with 280, while Spaid had 252. Veronica Santee had 250, and Leyda had 246.

In Utica, a ballot question pertaining to the granting of malt and brewed beverage wholesale distributors and importing distributor’s licenses not for consumption on premises where sold in the borough was answered with a yes by 30 voters.


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