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Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Five candidates emerge as sole candidate for November district judge races
WINDBER – Of the two women who sought to fill a district judgeship in Windber, Kayla Kormanik-Lucas emerged the lone candidate after the primary election Tuesday, unofficial election results show. Kormanik-Lucas, of Ogle Township, advances to the Nov. 4 general election unopposed: she sailed through the Republican primary as the only candidate on the ballot and defeated local attorney Amy Thomas, of Paint Township, in the Democratic primary Tuesday. Candidates are permitted to cross-file for the seat, which has a six-year term. Kormanik-Lucas won 582 votes to Thomas' 279 votes in the Democratic primary. She also won 1,417 votes on the Republican side, where she was uncontested. 'I'm honored that the people of my district trust me to move forward on both sides of the ticket,' said Kormanik- Lucas, a Widener Law School graduate who works as a contract administrator for a local defense firm. She said her victory Tuesday was the culmination of several months of hard work. 'I made an honest run with integrity,' she said. 'I met people (Tuesday) at the polls. It was great to see people come out.' After the November election, Kormanik-Lucas will serve in the judge's seat, serving communities in the Windber Area and Shade-Central City school districts, succeeding District Judge William Seger, who is retiring at the end of the year. The Windber-based district judge seat includes communities in the Windber Area and Shade-Central City school districts. 'I have always felt called to public service,' she said. Thomas said she was thankful to her supporters, but disappointed in recent TV news coverage of the race. 'First and foremost, l'm incredibly grateful to everyone who supported me in this race,' Thomas said. 'Unfortunately, this race was never just about qualifications – it became clear early on that I was also up against media bias and misinformation. The coverage I received was often one-sided and failed to reflect the truth about my record and my character. 'I've overcome significant personal challenges and was fully cleared of past accusations, yet that didn't seem to matter to those determined to discredit me,' she said. 'Despite the loss, I remain committed to serving this community and will continue looking for ways to make a meaningful, positive impact. This was just one chapter – not the end of the story.' A New Centerville judge's seat, in Somerset's District 16-3-05, also had two challengers – both cross-filed – with one winner on both tickets. Patrick Svonavec, of Milford Township, secured that primary victory Tuesday over Daniel Lewis, of Confluence Borough. Svonavec is a longtime attorney with experience practicing at the Common Pleas and federal court levels. Lewis is a longtime state constable in the region. Svonavec won 191 Democratic votes to Lewis' 100. On the Republican ticket, Svonavec won 596 votes to Lewis' 473. District 16-3-05 includes the townships of Black, Jefferson, Milford, Middlecreek, Upper and Lower Turkeyfoot and Casselman, Confluence, New Centerville, Rockwood, Seven Springs and Ursina boroughs. The office was previously held by Sandra Stevanus, who retired last year. In Cambria County, two men sought election to District 47-3-01, which has been held by longtime District Judge Mary Ann Zanghi. William 'Bill' Hines Jr., of Nanty Glo, a longtime law enforcement officer now working as a Cambria County detective, won the primary on both party tickets. His opponent, Aaron Ling, of East Conemaugh, is a former Cambria County public defender who has worked as a full-time assistant prosecutor with the Somerset County District Attorney's Office since 2020. Hines won 779 votes on the Democratic ballot to Ling's 401. On the Republican side, Hines won 958 votes to Ling's 422 votes. District 47-3-01 includes Browns- town, East Conemaugh, Franklin, Nanty Glo and Franklin, in addition to the townships of East Taylor, Jackson, Lower Yoder, Middle Taylor and West Taylor. For Cambria County judge, District Attorney Greg Neugebauer cruised through unopposed primary on both tickets for the position. He won 9,851 votes on the Republican ticket and 7,980 votes on the Democratic ticket. In November, he is seeking a seat that has been vacant since former Judge David Tulowitzki retired in 2023. In Somerset County, District Attorney Molly Metzgar also ran unopposed in her Republican bid for a county judge seat vacated in late 2023 by former President Judge Gregory Geary. Metzgar, of Somerset Township, won 7,359 votes Tuesday on the Republican ticket. Russ O'Reilly is a reporter for The Tribune-Democrat.
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Forgery allegations cloud Windber district judge race
Two women running for a Windber-area district judge seat have filed petitions in court each seeking to have the other removed from the ballot. In the initial filing, three Windber-area residents signed affidavits alleging their names and signatures were forged without their knowledge on nomination documents filed by candidate Amy Thomas. A Hollidaysburg attorney filed the civil 'motion to set aside' Thomas' petitions, seeking to have her disqualified. Amy Thomas, the wife of convicted former Somerset County District Attorney Jeffrey Thomas, responded in court Tuesday, filing a nearly identical motion to set aside election petitions filed by fellow candidate Kayla Kormanik- Lucas, of Ogle Township. A Somerset County judge will hold hearings on both challenges Thursday. Thomas, of Paint Township, is a licensed attorney making her first run for the seat being vacated by outgoing District Judge William Seger. Thomas briefly faced charges in 2022. She was accused of perjury and witness intimidation for allegedly driving to the home of a woman who said she witnessed Jeffrey Thomas assaulting her while talking to Thomas on the video app FaceTime – but the case was resolved with charges expunged. Kormanik-Lucas is a Widener Law School graduate, her campaign site shows. She has served as a law clerk in the region and now works as a contract administrator for a local defense contractor, her filings show. Both women have cross-filed to appear on the Republican and Democratic primary ballots for a seat that handles cases in the Windber area and Shade-Central City communities. The territory is officially called District 16-3-02. To qualify for the ballot, a candidate must collect at least 100 signatures from registered members of the party whose nomination they are seeking, and each of those signers must have addresses within the district. That means for the district judge ballot, the campaigns for candidates who cross-file must obtain 100 signatures from Democrats and, separately, Republicans. Forgery allegations One civil 'petition to set aside' challenges Thomas' petition to appear on the GOP ballot, alleging 44 of her 129 signatures should be stricken by the court as invalid, on the argument those signatures were filed by people who either aren't registered Republican voters, aren't registered to vote at all or don't have an address within the magisterial district. The other petition filed against Thomas makes nearly identical allegations about her Democratic petition. In both cases, forgery is alleged. A Somerset County man signed an affidavit, saying his purported signature, name and address appeared on Thomas' Republican petition but that he did not sign the document or give anyone else approval to do so. 'It appears that many of the addresses of signatories were filled in by a person with the exact same handwriting, in violation of several portions of the Pennsylvania Crimes Code but more pertinent here in violation of (state law governing election law),' Hollidaysburg attorney Daniel Kiss wrote. The document shows Kiss filed the document on behalf of Leah Petrunak, a registered Somerset County Republican who objected to Thomas' petition. A registered Democrat, Karen Vilga, filed the objection related to Thomas' petition to run on the Democratic ballot. By law, a registered voter in the district can only sign one candidates' nomination petition – and there are instances where the same person's names appear on both candidates' petitions, including two Sugar Maple Drive neighbors of Thomas, one of whom who signed a notarized affidavit March 16 stating she did not place her name, address or signature on Thomas' election forms. 'At no point did I agree to sign her nomination petitions nor did I meet with her or anyone on her behalf to do so,' Debra M. Flori wrote. Thomas responds Thomas responded with petitions in Somerset County asking a judge to set aside Kormanik- Lucas' election forms. That includes petitions that would put the Ogle Township woman on the Republican and Democrat ballots. Thomas alleges 'multiple irregularities and concerns were identified regarding the validity of several signatures, prompting this petition.' Among them, Thomas alleges signatures representing different names on the petitions were signed by the same hand – or that information such as addresses were filled in by someone else not matching the signature on the form. In other cases, Thomas wrote that a number of signers weren't registered to vote or are registered for a different party on Kormanik-Lucas' petitions. As an attorney, Thomas filed the allegations, representing herself. Her civil filings do not contain signed affidavits by any voters alleging their name was forged, but she alleges the act of forgery occurred numerous times on the document. On Kormanick-Lucas' Democratic petition, Thomas is asking a judge to remove 84 signatures, which would reduce it to 44 signatures. Both petitions, if granted, would put the candidates below the threshold to serve as nominees for the seat. Criminal investigation? As a 2021 incident in Cambria County shows, forged nomination petitions can carry criminal consequences. A St. Michael man, James Moss, was charged with misdemeanor forgery allegations after an investigation indicated he forged a number of signatures in petitions for his brother, Kirk Moss, a year earlier. Kirk Moss was running for county sheriff at the time. Unlike the current Somerset County dispute, concerns apparently didn't arise about James Moss forging signatures until after the deadline to challenge nomination petitions. And Kirk Moss already lost the race in the spring primary by the time charges were filed against his brother. Police alleged James Moss signed the petition that contained the forged signatures, making him legally responsible. It was not immediately clear Wednesday how Moss' case was resolved. Somerset County District Attorney Molly Metzgar, when asked about the Somerset County- based forgery allegations Tuesday, spoke generally about the topic. She said if there are indications criminal activity occurred, those allegations would be referred to the appropriate local law enforcement agencies to investigate. Rare challengePetition challenges aren't uncommon during candidate races – sometimes challenging whether the minimum required number of registered voters signed documents or that a candidate completed all steps to file for office – but area election officials said allegations of forgery are rare. Somerset County Election Director Tina Pritts said she could not recall a challenge regarding allegations of forged signatures in her 25 years as director – let alone two in one week. The county Election Office is tasked with receiving and collecting petitions for races within the county. While anyone circulating a petition is required to sign statements verifying their submissions are accurate to the best of their knowledge, it's not the role of an Election Office staff to examine each and every signature and determine if it's illegitimate, Pritts said. Blair County Election Director Sarah Seymour agreed. Blair County has had petition challenges in recent years too – although none involving forgery allegations – and she said it's up qualified 'objectors' or a fellow candidate within an election district to determine whether a candidate's petition has issues that warrant a challenge, said Seymour, a veteran Election Office administrator. 'We have hundreds of petitions each election with thousands of names,' Seymour said. 'A staff of four people (with other daily duties) could never handle that.' Pritts said it'll be up to a Somerset County judge to determine whether or not signatures could be stricken from petitions. Somerset County Judge Dan Rullo scheduled a 11 a.m. proceeding Thursday to listen to each of the petition challenges, court documents show.
