A number of candidates are starting to make their intentions known for some key local races in the 2023 election cycle.
This year’s ballots will feature a plethora of municipal offices up for grabs ranging from countywide races; city, borough and township battles; and school board contests.
All three county commissioner positions are on the ballots in Venango, Clarion and Forest counties, and both Common Pleas judge posts are up for election in Venango County as well.
Those candidates are Greg Merkel, Justin Fleeger and Matthew Kirtland.
Marie Veon, a longtime Venango County district attorney, has served as the county’s president judge since December 2021 to fill the void created by the retirements of first Boyer and then Lobaugh, who had been the county’s president judge for many years.
Candidates for judge can cross file on both the Republican and Democratic tickets in the May 16 primary election.
Meanwhile, the commissioner races in the tri-county area have been attracting both incumbents and newcomers who have announced their candidacies in the newspaper.
In Venango County, Albert Abramovic, who is in the final year of his second term as a commissioner, has announced he is seeking a third term. Abramovic is the lone Democrat on the current board of commissioners which also consists of first-term Republicans Sam Breene and Mike Dulaney.
Dulaney has announced he has chosen not to seek re-election to a second term. Although Breene hasn’t made a formal announcement to the newspaper as to whether he will be seeking re-election, he has indicated he intends to do so.
Jim Speth, a Republican, and Mathew Beith, a Democrat, have also announced their commissioner candidacies.
Speth is the current president of Sugarcreek Borough Council, and Beith is active both professionally and as a volunteer in the Franklin community.
Over in Clarion County, Ed Heasley, the lone Democrat on the current board of commissioners, has said he won’t seek re-election.
Ted Tharan has announced he will be seeking a third term, and Wayne Brosius has not made a formal announcement to the newspaper as to whether he will seek re-election.
In Forest County, commissioners Bob Snyder, a Democrat, and Mark Kingston, a Republican, are seeking re-election.
Longtime Forest commissioner Basil Huffman, a Republican, retired at the end of 2022. Former commissioner and current coroner Norm Wimer, also a Republican, was tapped to fill the last year of Huffman’s term this year.
Wimer has not announced whether he will run for a full commissioner term this year.
Two Republicans and two Democrats will be nominated for commissioner in the primary election in each county, and those four winners will square off for the three positions in November.
Candidate announcements for some other spots on the primary ballots have been trickling in to the newspaper.
Important dates
The first day for candidates to circulate petitions is this Tuesday, Feb. 14, and the last day to collect signatures on the petitions is March 7.
Petitions are available at the county election offices.
Candidates who get the required number of signatures on their petitions will have their names placed on the primary ballots.
May 1 is the last day to register to vote before the primary and May 9 is the last day to request a mail-in or absentee ballot.
All mail-in and absentee ballots must be received by county election offices by 8 p.m. on primary election day.
The last day to register to vote before the Nov. 7 general election is Oct. 23.
