Centre County voters cast their ballots in the 2025 municipal primary election on Tuesday. A total of 18,829 ballots were cast during the election according to unofficial results posted to centrecountypa.gov.

Listed below are the unofficial election results for statewide races and State College officials as of 10:33 pm on Tuesday.

Superior Court of Pennsylvania

The Superior Court of Pennsylvania is one of the two statewide intermediate appellate courts within Pennsylvania. The Superior Court reviews civil and criminal cases that are appealed from the Courts of Common Pleas.

Judges who are appointed to the Superior Court serve 10-year terms and must retire at age 75. Judges retain their seat after their term has expired via a retention vote.

Brandon Neuman (D-Pa.) ran against Maria Battista (R-Pa.) and Ann Marie Wheatcraft (R-Pa.), with Neuman winning with a total of 823,710 votes. 9,224 of those votes were cast within Centre County.

Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania is the second intermediate appellate court and alongside the Superior Court, deals with regulatory agencies, state and local governments.

Judges who are appointed to the Commonwealth court follow the same rules as the Superior Court in regards to term limits, retention and retirement.

Stella Tsai (D-Pa.) ran against Matt Wolford (R-Pa.) and Josh Prince (R-Pa.). Tsai won with a total of 821,340 votes. 9,243 of those votes came from Centre County.

District Attorney

The district attorney (DA) acts as a representative of the United States government in criminal cases that take place in county-level and local courts. DAs can serve a total of two four-year terms.

Bernie Cantorna (D-Pa.), ran unopposed and was reelected with a total of 9,407 votes. Cantorna has served as district attorney in Centre County since Jan. 2, 2018.

Jury Commissioner

The jury commissioners are tasked with overseeing the civil jury process within their appointed county. There are two jury commissioners in Centre County who serve four-year terms.

Shelley L Thompson (D-Pa.) and Hope P Miller (R-Pa.) were both reelected to their positions with a total of 9,125 and 7,515 votes respectively. They both ran unopposed on their respective ballots.

Mayor

The Mayor of State College is the official representative of the municipality as well as the presiding officer of the State College Borough Council. They are limited to four-year terms before needing to be reelected.

Ezra Nanes (D-Pa.) was reelected as mayor of State College with a total of 1,535 votes. He ran unopposed, save for 42 write-in Republican ballots.

State College Borough Council

The State College Borough Council consists of seven members including the mayor, who all serve four-year terms that overlap, resulting in some members seeing elections before others.

Nalini Krishnankuttty (D-Pa.), John Hayes (D-Pa.) and Gopal Balachandran (D-Pa.) ran unopposed to be reelected to their positions on the council, with Krishnankutty receiving 1,459 votes, Hayes receiving 1,371 votes and Balachandran receiving 1,430 votes.

School Director, State College School District

The State College Area School District (SCASD) is governed by a board of directors which consists of nine members who all serve four-year terms.

Seven candidates ran on both the Democratic and Republican ballots for four available seats on the board with Deborah Anderson being reelected to the board with 6,084 votes across both ballots.

Jackie Huff, another incumbent, is also expected to be reelected with 5,490 votes across both ballots.

Jesse Barlow and Rebecca Arnold Desmarais are also expected to win seats on the SCASD Board of Directors with each candidate receiving 5,834 votes and 5,059 votes respectively across both ballots.

Judges

Judges in Centre County serve in minor courts within Pennsylvania’s judicial system and consist of magisterial district judges who preside over several municipal courts throughout State College and elsewhere.

These courts are tasked with determining if criminal cases go to the Court of Common Pleas, dealing with Preliminary arraignments and preliminary hearings and setting and accepting bail, except in murder or voluntary manslaughter cases.

State College is made up of two magisterial districts.

Magisterial District 49-1-01 consists of Voting Districts within State College, specifically East 2, East 3, and East 4, East Central 2 and 3, South 2, South Central 1 & 2, Southeast and West Central 2.

Donald M Hahn ran on both the Democratic and Republican ballots to be reelected as judge for magisterial district 49-1-01, which includes State College, with a total of 930 votes across both ballots. He ran unopposed for the position.

Magisterial District 49-3-05 consists of Voting Districts within State College, specifically Voting Districts East 1, East Central 1, North, Northeast, Northwest, South 1, West 1, West 2 and West Central 1.

Steven F. Lachman ran on both the Democratic and Republican ballots to be reelected as judge for magisterial district 49-3-05, which includes State College, with a total of 889 votes across both ballots. He ran unopposed for the position.

The full list of Centre County unofficial Municipal Primary Elections results is available at centrecountypa.gov.

MORE CAMPUS COVERAGE

It appears Luzerne County Republican voters chose three incumbents, a prior councilman and a newcomer to advance to the November general election in the county council race, according to unofficial primary election results.

At 11:45 p.m., with all 186 precincts reporting, the following Republicans were in the lead: Council members John Lombardo, Brian Thornton and Greg Wolovich, past county councilman Stephen J. Urban and southern county resident Jackie Scarcella.

Meanwhile, county Democrats nominated these five based on unofficial results: Denise Williams, Dawn Simmons, Chris Belles, Steven M. Coslett and Tony Perzia.

Nine Republicans sought that party’s five nominations Tuesday, which means the following four will not advance if the unofficial leads stand: incumbent Kevin Lescavage, Thomas Dombroski, Ronald D. Knapp and Rob Viars.

Seven Democrats ran, and the unofficial leads indicate the following did not secure nominations: Johnny Price and Emily Singh.

Council members receive $8,000 annually. In addition to adopting a budget, their duties include approving larger contracts, appointing members to outside county boards, enacting codes and ordinances, confirming nominations to eight division head positions and hiring/firing and evaluating the manager.

The compensation and powers of council could change if voters adopt a proposed home rule charter in November. For example, the county government study commission drafting the revised charter is recommending increasing the annual compensation for council members from $8,000 to $10,000 due to their responsibilities and workload.

The five council members selected in November will take office or start new terms the start of 2026 and serve with Joanna Bryn Smith, Harry Haas, Patty Krushnowski, LeeAnn McDermott, Jimmy Sabatino and Brittany Stephenson.

Chris Perry, the remaining incumbent in a seat that expires at the end of this year, did not seek re-election.

The unofficial vote tally as of 11:45 p.m. with 186 precincts reporting:

Republicans: Lombardo, 12,065; Thornton, 9,838; Urban, 9,042; Scarcella, 8,999; Wolovich, 8,638; Lescavage, 8,339; Dombroski, 8,017; Knapp, 6,629; and Viars, 4,742.

Democrats: Williams, 14,647; Simmons, 12,461; Belles, 12,048; Coslett, 11,501; Perzia, 10,618; Singh, 8,763; and Price, 8,057.

Some background on the nominees based on their announcement and other communications:

Republicans

• Lombardo, of Pittston, received a bachelor’s degree in political science and media relations from Penn State University in 2015. He currently works as a full-time firefighter/EMT at the City Fire Bureau and has served on county council since January 2022.

• Thornton, of West Pittston, graduated from Lehigh University with a degree in mechanical engineering. He initially worked as a project engineer in New York City and has worked as a financial advisor in the county for 28 years. He had previously served on West Pittston Borough Council for a decade and has been a county council member since January 2022.

• Urban, of Kingston, is an IT support coordinator for a major food distributor and prior county council member. He served on county council from 2012 through 2015 and from 2020 through 2023. He currently serves on the county Government Study Commission.

• Scarcella, of Hazle Township, works as the development and alumni stewardship officer at Penn State University’s Hazleton campus and is a graduate of Hazleton High School and the Luzerne County Community College. She served two terms on the Hazleton Area School Board from 2016 to 2023.

• Wolovich, of Hanover Township, has a bachelor’s degree in accounting from King’s College and works as an operations manager at Wegmans Food Market in Wilkes-Barre Township. He has served on county council since January 2022.

Democrats

• Williams, of Kingston Township, began her career as a registered nurse and later became the coordinator of religious education at Saint Therese’s Church in Shavertown, a role she held for 24 years until her retirement in 2021. From 2017 to 2021, Williams volunteered with Fair Districts PA, a nonpartisan citizens group working to end gerrymandering in Pennsylvania. She served as county election board chair from 2021 through the end of 2024.

• Simmons, of Wilkes-Barre, Simmons, is a U.S. Air Force veteran and Realtor and described herself as a “resolute advocate for veterans, families and economic growth.”

• Belles, of West Pittston, is a 2004 Dallas High School graduate and a 2009 graduate of King’s College. He has spent most of his life in Luzerne County and currently works as a data analyst for Astound Broadband (RCN), where he focuses on identifying opportunities for efficiency.

• Coslett, of Forty Fort, graduated from the Wyoming Valley West School District and attended Luzerne County Community College, where he studied business management and criminal justice. Additionally, Coslett is a graduate of the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections Academy in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. He retired after 23 years with the county correctional services division but continues to serve on the honor guard and its board of directors.

• Perzia, of Luzerne, said he is a dedicated community advocate with more than 30 years of experience in the community. He has served on the Luzerne Borough Council, as the Wyoming Valley West School District’s support staff president and on the PSEA Legislative Committee.

There was no primary competition in the county controller’s race because incumbent Republican controller Walter Griffith and Democratic contender Tim McGinley were each unopposed. The two will run against each other in November.

Based on the unofficial primary tally at 11:45 p.m., McGinley received 17,841 votes, while Griffith obtained 15,888.