In a Primary Election in Montgomery County that unofficially brought out roughly 10,000 more Democrats than Republicans — and 351 Nonpartisans in the Towamencin Township ballot question vote — the County Commissioner candidates know who is unofficially in and who is out for two majority seats in November.
Out is incumbent Republican and minority Commissioner Joe Gale. In for the GOP ballot this fall are Liz Ferry and Tom DiBello versus top Democratic vote-getters incumbent Commissioner Jamila Winder and Neil Makhija.
DiBello received 31,006 total votes and Ferry received 28,657 total votes, according to the election summary report. Out of 203,000 registered Republican voters, only 50,630 votes were cast, according to unofficial results.
The two Republicans will face off in November against Winder, who received the top votes among the five Democratic candidates with 54,744, and Harvard-educated lawyer Makhija, who raked in 38,458 total votes, according to the election summary report. Winder’s running mate Kimberly Koch was the third highest vote-getter at 31,105 total votes.
Tanya Bamford, who was successful in her uncontested Democratic Primary for re-election to Montgomery Township supervisor, received the second lowest votes at 24,309 total followed by lowest vote getter Noah Marlier, who garnered 17,055 total votes, according to the election summary report.
North Penn School District
The five Democrats running for the same number of seats on the North Penn School Board will face off in November against the five Republican challengers in the Primary.
Incumbent Director Cathy Wesley received the most votes of her Democratic team on Tuesday, with 8,076 total votes, with incumbents Dr. Elisha Gee and Juliane Ramic close behind, according to the election summary report.
Newcomer Kunbi Rudnick received the fourth-most votes at 7,762 votes. Incumbent Timothy MacBain received the least votes of his team at 7,605, according to the election summary report.
On the Republican side, North Penn United faced off against former running mates Liz Vazquez and Diana Blystone, who broke off from the former five-candidate slate and formed their own campaign together. It worked out for Blystone – she received the most votes of the Republican challengers at 5,006, according to the election summary report. Right on her heels was Vince Altieri, with 4,994 votes.
Both Blystone, an advocate for district special education reform, and Altieri are frequent and familiar faces at North Penn School Board sessions.
Michael R. Jowder received the third-most votes at 4,597, according to the election summary report. Jowder ran on a ticket alongside Altieri and Ismaine Ayouaz, who received the lowest votes at 3,522. Vazquez received the second-lowest number of votes at 4,302, according to the election summary report.
School board candidates can cross-file in an election, however all cross-filed candidates finished below the five-person threshold on their opponent’s primary ballot.
Hatfield Borough
Incumbent Democrat Larry Burns received 190 votes in the primary for two open seats on Hatfield Borough Council, according to the election summary report. Republicans John D. Kroesser and Michelle L. Kroesser each received 128 and 129 votes, respectively.
Hatfield Township
Republican incumbent Greg Lees received 177 votes in the Ward One race for his commissioner seat in Hatfield Township, according to the election summary report. The Black Reserve Bookstore owner and former Ambler NAACP President Anwar AM Muhammad received only 75 votes in the Ward One Democratic race, sending challenger Jennifer Dan LoStracco and her 230 total votes on to face Lees in November, according to the election summary report.
Democrat Shahidul Partha received a total of 316 votes in the Hatfield Township Ward Two race for one open seat, and will face off against Republican Ann Leslie in November, who received 264 votes, according to the election summary report.
Incumbent Gerald Andris received 205 votes in his Republican re-election primary race, but Democrat challenger Frank Gilroy surpassed him at 261 votes, per the report.
Lansdale Borough
Over in Lansdale Borough, returning Republican Ward One challenger and Koffee Korner owner Yanni Lambros got 145 total votes in a council race that brought out 184 of 992 voters, according to county unofficial results. Lambros will face off in November against incumbent BJ Breish, who received a total of 411 votes.
Republican Scott Kallatch received 196 votes in his Ward Two council race for two open seats. Democratic incumbents Rich DiGregorio Jr. and Meg Currie Teoh each received 384 and 383 votes, respectively, according to the election summary report.
The open seat in Ward Three, vacated by current council President Denton Burnell who is not seeking reelection, had no Republican challenger, according to the election summary report. Democrat Rafia Razzak received 457 votes and will likely take the seat in January.
Montgomery Township
In Montgomery Township, commissioner candidate Bamford received 2,402 total votes in her uncontested primary for re-election as supervisor. The supervisors race saw 2,571 out of 8,880 voters hit the polls, according to unofficial county election results.
Bamford will face off against Republican Jatin Patel, who received 701 votes over opponents George Schutte and Juan Santiago, who, according to the election summary report, received 562 and 68 votes, respectively.
North Wales Borough
There are three seats up for grabs in Ward One in North Wales Borough, and Democrats Sherwin Collins and Brittany Kohler received 99 and 110 votes in their race, respectively, with incumbent Wendy McClure receiving 117 votes in her primary for a two-year term on Ward One, according to the election summary report.
All three will win seats on North Wales council in November, as there are zero Republican contenders.
Towamencin Township
Towamencin Township Government Study Commission Chairman Kofi Osei received 2,136 total votes in the Democratic Primary, according to the election summary report. He has his eyes on the seat of incumbent Republican Rich Marino, who received 132 less votes than Osei, gathering a total of 2,004.
Upper Gwynedd Township
Republicans George Cressman and Fred Hencken will head to the General Election for the three open Upper Gwynedd Township Commissioners seats against Democrats Katherine D. Carter, Greg Moll, and incumbent Martha Simelaro, who received 1,782, 1,653, and 1,698 votes, respectively, according to the election summary report.
See all unofficial election results here.
