Though results are not finalized and a mix of in-person and mail-in ballots are still being counted, Centre County released preliminary polling numbers for State College s primary elections as of 11:25 p.m. Tuesday night.
For the boroughâs mayoral race, two democratic candidates are battling to replace Ronald Filippelli, current interim mayor, in the general election Nov. 2.
Jim Leous, a member of the State College Area School Board, is largely behind former State Senate nominee Ezra Nanes. No Republican nominees are on the ballot, though 186 write-in votes have been cast thus far.
The current mayoral vote count is:
Jim Leous with 815 votes (34.5%)
Three borough council seats are up for election this year.
Penn State law professor and former public defender
Gopal Balachandran (1,534 votes), Penn State adult student and restorative justice advocate
Divine Lipscomb (1,323) and theater company and school owner
Richard Biever (1,105) are the top three vote-getters in the race as of 11:25 p.m. on Tuesday.
According to the Centre County Elections Office, all in-person votes have been tabulated from each of the county’s 87 precincts, but countywide about 2,000 mail ballots remain to be counted. Processing of those ballots will resume at 11 a.m. on Wednesday.
Balachandran, Lipscomb and Biever have run a joint campaign under the Central PA United PAC, which is dedicated to “people-funded campaigns” and candidates with diverse life experiences.
Min Xian / WPSU
As of 12:50 a.m. Wednesday, with all precincts partially reporting, unofficial results of the primary elections show Ezra Nanes leading Jim Leous by a two-to-one margin in the Democratic nomination for State College mayor. There is no Republican on the ballot for the seat. Any write-in candidates will take some time to be counted.
Among the seven cross-filed candidates running for the State College Area School District Board of Directors, it appears Peter Buck, Carline Crevecoeur, Deborah Anderson, Jackie Huff, Michelle Glenn Young, and David Hutchinson will be on the November ballot competing for four spots.
Democrats Gopal Balachandran and Divine Lipscomb are leading in the primary for the State College Borough Council. The competition for the third slot is very close between Richard Biever and Katherine Yeaple, though Biever is ahead. Jacob Werner won the Republican nomination as the sole candidate on that ballot. Write-ins could again play a role.
Candidates Gopal Balachandran, Divine Lipscomb, and Richard Biever appear likely to secure the Democratic nominations for State College Borough Council in a tightly contested race.
According to preliminary election results as of 11:25 p.m., Balachandran leads the field of six candidates with 1,534 votes. Lipscomb,
a Penn State student, and Biever follow with 1,323 and 1,105 votes, respectively. Incumbent Katherine Yeaple boasts 1,061 votes, while Mayor Ron Filipelli and Catherine Dauler, who’s seeking her fifth term, follow behind with 894 and 808 votes, respectively.
Jacob Werner, who’s collected 466 votes so far, is the only Republican candidate running for council.
The Centre County Elections Office said it’s counted all in-person votes from its 87 precincts, but about 2,000 mail ballots remain to be counted. Processing is set to resume at 11 a.m. Wednesday.
6:45
On a recent Sunday afternoon, Tierra Williams and Rich Biever co-hosted a “politics and poetry” event at the Tudek Park in State College.
“The purpose of this event is to gather in the name of change,” Biever announced.
Both Biever and Williams are candidates in this year’s municipal elections. Williams is running for a seat on the Ferguson Township Board of Supervisors and Biever is a candidate for the State College Borough Council.
They’re backed by Central Pennsylvania United, a local advocacy group trying to bring candidates with progressive platforms to local office. The organization partners with Pennsylvania United, a PAC based in Pittsburgh.