Campaign signs on Tuesday outside of Harrisburg’s MLK Jr. City Government Center, which served as a polling place
Two newcomers and one incumbent won Democratic nominations on Tuesday for three seats on Harrisburg City Council.
With all precincts reporting and mail-in ballots counted, council President Danielle Bowers topped the eight-candidate primary field (2,192 votes), followed by challengers Crystal Davis (1,897 votes) and Lamont Jones (1,761 votes), according to the Dauphin County Election Bureau’s unofficial results.
Cole Goodman came in fourth place followed by Brad Barkdoll, current council member Robert Lawson, Leslie Franklin and Lori Beamer Saulisbury, according to the bureau.
The Democratic nominees are heavily favored to win the three, four-year council seats in the Nov. 7 general election, as no Republicans ran in the primary in the heavily Democratic city.
For city treasurer, incumbent Dan Miller ran unopposed for another four-year term. No Republicans ran in the primary.
The Harrisburg school board race had five seats at stake, but only four candidates ran—all Democrats and all incumbents. They are Ellis Roy, James Thompson, Doug Thompson Leader and Terricia Radcliff, so all will appear on the November ballot.
For magisterial district justice, Matthew Pianka won both the Democratic and Republican primaries for District 12-01-02, as he cross-filed, and was the sole candidate on the ballot in each primary. Autumn Fair ran as a write-in candidate after getting knocked off the Democratic ballot following a challenge to her nominating petitions, but all write-ins together garnered only about 32% of the vote in the primary, compared to 68% for Pianka.
For District 12-1-04, Democrat Mikaela Sloan won her primary as the sole candidate to run for that district judgeship.
In District 12-1-05, incumbent MDJ Hanif Johnson defeated two challengers, Claude Phipps and Lori Ann Jenkins, to win the Democratic nomination for the seat. He cross-filed in the primary and also won the Republican nomination.
In Dauphin County, no primary races were contested, but the results will set up several contests for the November general election.
For commissioner, Republican incumbents Mike Pries and Chad Saylor, Democratic incumbent George Hartwick and Democratic challenger Justin Douglas will vie for three, four-year seats on the board.
For clerk of courts, Republican John McDonald will face Democrat Bridget Whitley. For recorder of deeds, Democrat Tami Dykes will challenge incumbent Republican Jim Zugay. And, for county treasurer, Republican Nick DiFrancesco and Democrat Fred Faylona will compete for the position.
In other county races, incumbent District Attorney Fran Chardo, Sheriff Nick Chimienti, Controller Mary Bateman and Register of Wills Jean Marfizo King all ran unopposed in the Republican primary. No Democrats appeared on the ballot in these races.
This story was based on unofficial results from the Dauphin County Elections Bureau. We will update the story if warranted. To view all results for the municipal primary in Dauphin County, visit the election bureau website.
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