21-05-2025
6 Erie County school districts had primary election races. 7 will have races in November
A number of local school districts had contested races for school board nominations in the May 20 municipal primary.
There will be races again in November in the Erie, General McLane, Girard, Iroquois, North East and Northwestern school districts, according to unofficial election results.
Seeking four seats available on the Erie School Board this fall will be incumbents Jay Breneman and Zakaria Sharif plus Leah Merski, former school director Gary Horton and Hayan Aloush.
Merski, Breneman, Horton and Sharif won Democratic nominations with 5,851, 5,419, 5,378 and 3,906 votes, respectively.
Failing to win Democratic nominations were Danielle Randall with 3,691 votes, Tony Quinn with 2,614, Tywonn Taylor with 2,266 and Aloush with 1,078.
Republican nominations went to Merski, Horton, Sharif and Aloush, with 1,924, 1,140, 1,028 and 802 votes, respectively.
Taylor failed to win a Republican nomination with 714 votes.
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Incumbent school directors Jason Halfast, Joe Frisina, Amy Allen and Richard Farver won nominations for re-election in both parties.
Challenger Andrea Chelton failed to win a nomination.
In Democratic balloting, Halfast led with 315 votes followed by Farver, 306; Allen, 291; Frisina, 236; and Chelton, 202.
On the Republican ballot, Halfast led again with 522 votes. Allen had 489, Farver 469, and Frisina, 386, to win nominations. Chelton trailed with 349 votes.
Two candidates for a four-year at-large seat on the school board will face each other again in November.
Donald Ickes won the Democratic nomination with 836 votes to 422 for Mark Kernick.
Kernick won the Republican nomination with 596 votes to 530 for Ickes.
The only other contest in the district was for a Region 3 seat on the board.
George Roberts won the nomination in both parties with 179 Democratic votes and 126 Republican votes to 164 and 59 votes, respectively, for Brad Pattullo.
Incumbent school directors Mike McConnell and Joseph Legnasky plus Chris McNally, Daniel Maher and Jason Bax will vie for four four-year seats on the Girard School Board in November.
Democratic nominations went to McConnell, 587 votes; McNally, 566; Maher, 529; and Legnasky, 433. Bax trailed with 421 votes.
Republican nominations went to McConnell, McNally, Maher and Jason Bax, with 565, 535, 516 and 401 votes, respectively. Legnasky trailed with 374 votes.
There were no races for party nominations for Iroquois School Board, but there will be a race this fall as incumbents Andrew Jackula, Michael King and Rita Nicolussi face challengers Lucia Conti and Jake Wilder for four board seats.
Conti, Nicolussi, Jackula and Wilder won Democratic nominations with 503, 484, 465 and 453 votes, respectively.
Jackula, with 244 votes, King, with 223, and Nicolussi, with 221, won Republican nominations.
Incumbent school directors Jane Blystone, Corrie Boyd and Alene Rohde and challengers Ginny Schwartz, Amanda Steeneck and Neil McCord will contend for four-year terms on the North East School Board in November.
Democrats nominated Blystone with 442 votes, Boyd with 430, Schwartz with 402 and Rohde with 378. Failing to win Democratic nominations were Dominic Gardunio with 336 votes and Steeneck with 290.
Republican nominations went to McCord with 687 votes, Boyd with 649, Steeneck with 553 and Blystone with 491. Failing to win Republican nominations were Schwartz with 272 votes and Gardunio with 176.
Democratic nominations for Northwestern School Board went to Heather Fawcett with 475 votes, incumbent Mark Swanson with 450, Jennifer Kumar with 340 and another incumbent, Becky Mikovch, with 313.
Courtney Roberts, with 244 votes, and Bre Haycock, with 138, failed to win Democratic nominations.
Republican nominations went to Fawcett with 547 votes, Swanson with 533, Mikovch with 486 and Dan Peppers with 365.
Kumar, with 316 votes, Roberts with 296 and Haycock with 167 did not win Republican nominations.
Squaring off in November will be Fawcett, Swanson, Mikovch, Kumar and Peppers, for four available board seats.
Contact Valerie Myers at vmyers@
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Voters pick the winners in contested Erie area school board races
