By Wayne Laepple
HARRISBURG — Tuesday was the deadline for candidates in the May primary to file their nominating petitions with the state Bureau of Commissions, Elections and Legislation.
Looking over the petitions presented by 13 area hopefuls, it was clear that some canvassers failed to adequately explain the procedure to signers. At least half a dozen people signed more than one candidate’s petition, and two or three signed two petitions for the same candidate on different days.
Only a few elected officials signed nominating petitions, and of the hundreds of people who were canvassed, only a few signatories were well-known party stalwarts.
Among the four candidates for the 85th District seat representing Union and Snyder counties, now held by state Rep. Russell Fairchild, of Lewisburg, there were several interesting trends.
Trey Casimir, of Lewisburg, the only Democrat, sent along 18 signature pages, not all of which were filled to their 50-signature capacity, and among those pages, only 23 Snyder County voters were found.
Republican candidate Fred Keller, of Middleburg, seemed to have a large number of people who changed their minds. Among the 32 pages of signatures he sent, several pages had half a dozen or more names neatly crossed out. However, Keller seemed to have a well-balanced petition, with almost as many Union County pages as Snyder County.
Betsy Snook, whose petition included 18 pages of signatures, had only 63 Snyder County signatures.
Maurice Brubaker, of Union County, presented 30 pages of signatures, but only three pages were those of Snyder County residents.
Across the river in the 108th district, currently represented by Republican Merle Phillips, the lone Democratic candidate Antonio Michetti’s 23 pages of signatures included a surprising number of signatures from the rural southern portion of Northumberland County, with very few names and addresses from the northern third of the county and only a handful of signatures from the precincts in Snyder County.
Chuck Erdman, a Republican and long-time county controller, sent in 42 pages of petitions. His petitions, which included the names of a number of municipal and county government officials and business leaders, showed that his canvassers had covered the district extensively.
Lynda Schlegel-Culver, who was endorsed by Phillips, her former boss, had the largest number of petitions, with 52 pages, which included the names of many of the party faithful, although one person had signed both Erdman’s and her petitions. In spite of his endorsement, Phillips did not sign Schlegel-Culver’s petition.
Finally, former Northumberland County commissioner Samuel Deitrick sent 16 pages of signatures down to Harrisburg. The second signature on the first page of his petition was that of an elected Northumberland County official who doesn’t reside in the 108th district, and there were also a couple of duplicate signatures.
In the eastern portion of Northumberland County, the 107th district seat currently held by Robert Belfanti, a Mount Carmel Democrat, attracted the largest number of candidates. Five people sent petitions in, three Democrats and two Republicans.
Among the three Democrats, George Zalar had by far the largest number of petitions, 58 pages. Among those who signed his petition were Belfanti and Frank Sawicki, chairman of the Northumberland County commissioners, as well as a number of other prominent municipal and county government officials.
Steve Bartos, a current member of Belfanti’s staff, garnered 20 pages of signatures, but those included several double signers, and Myron Turlis sent in 16 pages of signatures.
Kurt Masser, the Republican minority member of the county commissioners, had 33 pages of signatures, compared to just eight pages presented by Samuel Scicchitano.
