Who's on May Ballot for Pine and Richland Townships?

When voters go to the polls in Pine and Richland townships May 17, they will find ballots filled with incumbents' names, a few newcomers and blank spots for two school board seats.

In Pine Township, three Republican incumbents are running for re-election to four-year terms on the Board of Supervisors with no challengers -- Philip D. Henry, Frank J. Spagnolo and Ted Owen.

Richland Township has one disputed race for the Board of Supervisors. The supervisor-at-large seat currently held by Republican Herbert C. Dankmyer is being challenged by Democrat Jeffrey Thomas Sarabok.

In supervisorial Districts 1 and 3, Republicans Raymond P. Kendrick and George P. Allen, respectively, are running unopposed for four-year terms.

For the magisterial district judge's seat for District 5-2-12, three people cross-filed to run on the Democrat and Republican ballots --  Tom Shaheen, incumbent William K. Wagner and Angel L. Revelant. The district includes Bradford Woods, Marshall, McCandless and Pine.

For the Pine-Richland School Board, three people are running for five openings.

Incumbents Therese M. Dawson and Kevin Nigh also cross-filed to be listed on the Democrat and Republican ballots for two Region 1 seats in Pine.

Republican Ann Hynds is running unopposed for a Region 2 seat representing Pine and Richland Districts.

That leaves two seats open for Region 3, representing Richland Township, for which no one has filed the necessary petitions to run.

The Pine-Richland School District's website explains the process by which someone could run for the two vacant seats on the school board.

Because no one placed his or her name on the ballot by filing the necessary petitions with the Allegheny County Board of Elections, a write-in is the only way to secure the party nomination, according to the website.

It noted that a candidate must receive at least 10 write-in votes to secure a party's nomination and be placed on the general election ballot.

"This would mean a candidate would need at least 10 Democrat write-ins on the Democrat ballot to get the Democratic nomination, and at least 10 Republican write-ins on the Republican ballot to get the Republican nomination," the website stated. 

School board representation is split into three regions, with three persons elected to represent each of the three districts.

Region 1 encompasses five voting districts in Pine Township -- districts 1, 4, 5, 7 and 8. 

Region 2 covers parts of Richland and Pine townships. In Pine, voting districts 2, 3 and 6 are represented. For Richland, it is voting districts 1, 2, 7 and 8.

Region 3 comprises voting districts 3, 4, 5 and 6 in Richland.

For a map of the regions, click here.

For a listing of voting locations, click here.

Pine-Richland Patch plans to write profiles on each of the candidates. Please check back regularly for those articles.