Four of five district judge seats up for grabs in 2021 will have contested primaries in May.
Meanwhile, just one countywide race the Republican primary for the clerk of courts office will be contested this spring.
Barring candidate challenges, the May 18 primary ballots appear set. The deadline to file nominating petitions expired Tuesday. Elections Bureau Director JoAnn Sebastiani released the names of candidates for county offices after the deadline. A full list of candidates, including those seeking municipal offices and school district seats, could be released today, she said.
There will be contested primaries in four district judge races where no incumbents are seeking reelection.
Westmoreland County has a new Clerk of Courts.
Megan Loughner, 35, of Unity was sworn in to office Friday to take over the final 10 months of the clerk’s term, replacing Bryan Kline. He was hired last month as the new warden of Westmoreland County Prison.
The office oversees all criminal court records and documents filed at the county courthouse.
Loughner, a Republican, has worked as a top administrator for Kline since he first took office in 2010, first as the office’s fiscal manager and for the last five years as chief deputy.
“There are no changes planned,” Loughner said. “We’ll continue Bryan’s successful collection programs and we will launch an e-filing program in mid-summer.”
Courtesy of Megan Loughner
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The woman poised to become the acting Westmoreland County Clerk of Courts later this month hopes to fill the post in a more permanent manner.
Megan Loughner, 35, a Republican from Unity, said she will seek a full four-year term this year to run the courthouse office that handles all criminal court filings.
Incumbent Clerk of Courts Bryan Kline last week was hired as the new county prison warden and will resign his elected position on Feb. 19. Loughner, who serves as Kline’s top deputy, will become acting clerk of courts until a replacement is nominated by Gov. Tom Wolf.