Tuesday, November 7th, 2017 is Election Day. Voters across Pennsylvania will be voting for municipal offices (Mayor, City Council, Township Supervisor, Sheriff, Recorder of Deeds, School Board member, etc.) and Judicial candidates.
To help you in your voting decisions, Pennsylvania Family Council is proud to present our Judicial Voter’s Guide (we will add responses as they become available):
Statewide Races
View our printable PDF guide. – Updated 10/9/2017
Ballot Question
This election there is a question on the ballot proposing a constitutional amendment – Amending the Homestead Property Tax Assessment Exclusion.
County Races – Court of Common Pleas
Not all counties have open judicial seats. For the counties listed below, the candidates who responded are linked for you to read their response to our questionnaire. (A good faith effort was made to survey all judicial candidates but we can only publish the responses we have received.)
Allegheny County (choose 2)
David Lee Spurgeon (Dem) Patrick Connelly (Dem/Rep) Mary McGinley (Rep)
Armstrong County (choose 1)
Scott Andreassi (Dem) Chase McClister (Rep)
Beaver County (choose 2)
Deborah Lancos Decostro (Dem) Mitchell Shahen (Dem/Rep) William Braslawsce (Rep)
Berks County (choose 1)
Tina Boyd (Dem) J. Ben Nevius (Rep)
Blair County (choose 1)
Jackie Bernard (Dem/Rep)
Bucks County (choose 1)
Jeffrey Trauger (Dem/Rep)
Centre County (choose 1)
Brian Marshall (Dem) Ronald McGlaughlin (Rep)
Dauphin County (choose 3)
Lori Serratelli (Dem) Ed Marsico (Dem/Rep)
Royce Morris (Dem/Rep) John McNally (Rep)
Delaware County (choose 1)
Kelly Eckel (Dem) Jack Whelan (Rep)
Indiana County (choose 1)
Patrick Dougherty (Dem) Mike Clark (Rep)
Lackawanna County (choose 1)
Julia Munley (Dem/Rep)
Lancaster County (choose 1)
Jeff Conrad (Dem/Rep)
Lehigh County (choose 1)
Melissa Pavlack (Dem/Rep)
Lycoming County (choose 1)
Eric Linhardt (Dem/Rep) C. Kilgus Mary (Ind)
Montgomery County (choose 2)
Jeffrey Saltz (Dem) Wendy Rothstein (Dem/Rep) Joseph Walsh (Rep)
Philadelphia County (choose 9)
Deborah Canty (Dem) Deborah Cianfrani (Dem) Lucretia Clemons (Dem)
Mark Cohen (Dem) Shanese Johnson (Dem) Vikki Kristiansson (Dem)
Zac Shaffer (Dem) Stella Tsai (Dem) Vincent Furlong (Dem/Rep)
Somerset County (choose 1)
Daniel Rullo (Dem/Rep)
Washington County (choose 1)
Brandon Neuman (Dem/Rep)
Wayne County (choose 1)
Janine Edwards (Dem/Rep)
Westmoreland County (choose 1)
Lisa Monzo (Dem) Anthony Bompiani (Dem/Rep) Jim Silvis (Rep)
York County (choose 3)
Sandra Thompson (Dem) Kathleen Prendergast (Dem/Rep)
Clyde Vedder (Dem/Rep) Amber Anstine Kraft (Rep)
Retention candidates – vote Yes or No to retain them in their current position
Unfortunately, none of the retention candidates (statewide or county courts of common pleas) responded to our questionnaire, even with repeated attempts.
Allegheny County – Kelly Eileen Bigley, Cathleen Cawood Bubash, Michael Edward McCarthy, Jack McVay, Jr.
Armstrong County – James Panchik
Beaver County – Kim Tesla
Berks County – Timothy Rowley
Bucks County – Diane Gibbons
Butler County – Marilyn Horan, Kelley Streib
Centre County – Pamela Ruest
Chester County – David Bortner, Katherine Platt
Clinton County – Craig Miller
Cumberland County – Edward Guido
Delaware County – Mary Alice Brennan, George Pagano
Lackawanna County – Patricia Corbett
Lancaster County – Christopher Hackman, Howard Knisely, Margaret Miller, Jeffrey Reich, Donald Totaro, Jeffrey Wright
Lehigh County – James Anthony, Maria Dantos, Robert Steinberg, Michele Varricchio
Luzerne County – David Lupas
Montgomery County – Thomas Del Ricci
Northampton County – Stephen Baratta
Philadelphia County – Linda Carpenter, Ellen Ceisler, Michael Erdo, Shelley Robins New, Rosalyn Robinson, Teresa Sarmina
Pike County – Gregory Chelak
Schuylkill County – William Baldwin, Jacqueline Russell
Venango County – Robert Boyer, Oluver Lobaugh
Westmoreland County – Rita Donovan Hathaway
York County – Richard Renn, Gregory Snyder
Is there no one running in Erie County?
Not all counties have open judicial seats. If yours is not listed (like Erie), there are no open seats. The same is true for the retention candidate listings. Not all counties have judges up for retention (like Erie).
Thanks for your input.
Very helpful…thanks
This information is very helpful. Thank you!
Thank you for your diligence and helpfulness to PA electorate.
Michael, Dan, Emily, et al,
We so appreciate your making this information available for voters across our commonwealth! Informed voters help us in our efforts to have good government! May God continue to bless your efforts! Jim & Jean Bednar
I agree 110% with the Bednars. thanks for all you do day in and day out. Truly faithful servents of the Lord! co
Thanks for doing the hard research for us, & for helping us to protect our families & rights! Yours is a trustworthy organization & I am extremely grateful.
This helps me to do my homework. Thanks!
Thank you for taking the time to gather this important information and for making this available to voters across the Commonwealth. This is the best voter guide I have seen and I urge all voters to read the responses of the candidates. Thank you for providing voters important information from the candidates themselves. In this day of instant, and often misleading attack ads, this is a breath of fresh air.
The Homestead act proposal. Just what does it presently do and if we vote to change it, how will PA citizens be affected. It’s very confusing
Here is some more insight from the Commonwealth Foundation: https://www.commonwealthfoundation.org/policyblog/detail/whats-on-the-november-ballot-property-taxes-and-judges
Maybe I understand this but I am only one person, so here goes my understanding of the Homestead Amendment. It first helps to know whether your property has been provided with a homestead exemption . If it has then first: your present property tax bill , which is sent to you twice a year, charges the existing tax rate on the value of what has been determined by subtracting what the taxing district personnel has calculated as the median value of all homestead exempted property in its taxing district. For example lets us assume your property has an assessed value of $100,000. Lets us also assume that the median value of all the homestead exempted property in your district is $25,000. With that information, your property would then be taxed on the assessed value of $75,000. If the voters approve the amendment to the Pa. Constitution, then the General Assembly will be permitted to pass a law authorizing local property taxing authority to not tax your homesteaded property at all. And the local taxing authority cannot increase tax rates to try and recover lost revenue. This is a good thing for those who have homestead exempted properties.
There is a question on ballot on whether the Homestead Act should be changed. If the voters vote to change this law, just how would it affect what we pay on taxes?
Here is some more insight from the Commonwealth Foundation: https://www.commonwealthfoundation.org/policyblog/detail/whats-on-the-november-ballot-property-taxes-and-judges
This information was very helpful, especially in this year’s “off year” election!
Thank You!
Thanks for info
Very helpful
Thank you for all your hard work in keeping us informed and for your faithful service. God Bless you all.
Your guide always helps to make an informed decision.
There hasn’t been enough local information on candidates so I came to your guide. Thanks for posting it online.
Now I feel I am not going blindly into the election booth tomorrow.
Here’s an articles written by Sam Rohrer, President of Pennsylvania Pastor’s Network regarding the Ballot Question:
https://papastors.net/2017/11/06/pennsylvania-pastors-network-informs-residents-about-biblical-and-constitutional-perspective-of-property-taxes-in-advance-of-tomorrows-election/