Local races on primary election ballot for area school boards

A look at unofficial candidate lists in the region indicates there will be contested area school board races in the May 20 primary election.

The last day for candidates to withdraw their names from the ballot was March 26.

It’s important to remember that in Pennsylvania, school board elections are considered non-partisan and candidates are permitted to seek both the Republican and Democratic ballot lines for the November election.

As a result, some candidates can lock up both lines for the November vote, essentially ensuring their election. Other times, in a crowded field, candidates win just one line, the top vote-getters for each line remain on the ballot, and the same or similar contest gets decided in November.

Upper Perkiomen

One of the more crowded of these primaries will be in the Upper Perkiomen School Board race where four seats are up for grabs and seven candidates are looking to grab them. Only two of them, Melanie Cunningham and Keith McCarrick, are incumbents.

The other two members whose terms expire at the end of the year, Emily McCormick and J.P. Prego, are not seeking reelection.

The other five candidates are Nora Trabin, William Billy Hoier,  Monica Oswald, Paige Konopelsky and Christina Tina Andrews.

North Penn

In the North Penn School District, four seats will be on the ballot, and at least three new members will be elected, as a trio of two-term incumbents are not running again.

Incumbent Democrat Al Roesch is joined on the “North Penn Neighbors for Progress” team by newcomers Christine Coyne, Koh Chiba and Ken Keiser. Democrats Tina Stoll, Christian Fusco and Jonathan Kassa, all first elected with Roesch in 2017 and reelected in 2021, will not be on the ballot this year.

Opposing that group will be the “North Penn United” team of Jeff Eshleman, Michael Jowder, Yanni Lambros and Thomas Moyer. Jowder ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the board in 2023 and Lambros has previously run for a seat on Lansdale borough council in 2021 and 2023.

Seven of the eight candidates have cross-filed and will appear on both Democratic and Republican ballots in the May 20 primary; Jowder will appear on only the Republican ballot, according to election information provided by Montgomery County. The top four vote totals on each side of the ballot will then face off in the Nov. 4 general election.

Souderton Area

In the Souderton Area School District, nine candidates are vying for four open spots on the school board.

The “Keep Souderton Strong” team consist of Republican incumbents Janet Flisak, Stephen Nelson and Andrew Landis as well as newcomer Steve Long.

The “Souderton Area for Responsible Leadership” team consists of challengers Corinne DeGeiso, Alexandra Wisser, Rosemary Buetikofer and Andrew Souchet.

Democratic newcomer Laura Rivera is also running independent of the two teams.

All candidates cross-filed, with the exception of Nelson and Rivera.

The GOP-run board was embroiled in controversy last year after board member Bill Formica posted lewd comments about former Vice President Kamala Harris on social media. Community members later uncovered additional social media posts by Formica in which he disparaged teachers and non-English speakers. At the time, the board faced criticism for its muted response to the controversy, including from Souderton Area for Responsible Leadership members.

Pennridge

In the Pennridge School District, nine candidates are vying for four open spots on the school board. The Pennridge Democrats have endorsed newcomers Carly Taylor, Thomas Trauger, Dan Bebernitz and Nathaniel Leffever.

Pennridge Republicans have endorsed former Republican board member Jonathan Russell as well as newcomers Michael Bongiovanni, Brian McMullen and Jim York.

Democrat Daniel P. Mainieri III is also a candidate.

Republicans are seeking to recapture their long-held majority on the board after Democrats swept the 2023 election in a surprise victory following a series of controversial decisions by the GOP-led board.

The Democratic-endorsed candidates cross-filed, while the Republican-endorsed candidates are running on the Republican ballot.

Perkiomen Valley

In the Perkiomen Valley School board race, six candidates for four open seats will appear on the ballot, but that is not the whole story.

As in previous elections, there are two teams of candidates running. Three incumbents, Jason Saylor, Rowan Keenan and Don Fountain, are running with Russ Larson under the “Thrive 4 PV” banner.

But only Larson and Saylor will appear on the ballot, both on the Republican and Democratic lines. That’s because Keenan and Fountain were both recently thrown off the ballot for failing to file financial disclosure forms with the school district. Their supporters are urging voters to write in Keenan’s and Fountain’s names on the primary ballot.

The four candidates running on the PV Forward team, all of whom will appear on both the Republican and Democratic ballot lines, are not incumbents. However, one of those candidates, Judy Lofton, served on the school board from 2017 to 2021 and did not seek reelection that year. The other three candidates are Kevin Williams, Ann Bridy and Cindy Westphal.

This story was compiled by staff writers Evan Brandt, Dan Sokil, Rachel Ravina and John Worthington.

This article appears courtesy of a content share agreement between North Penn Now and The Reporter. To read more stories like this, visit https://www.thereporteronline.com