Incumbent Shaler Commissioner David Shutter wins GOP nomination

Shaler Township Commissioner David Shutter declared victory May 16 in his Republican primary race against challenger Kevin Kerin.

With 100% of precincts reporting results, Shutter had collected 209 votes to Kerin’s 180 in the Ward 3 race, unofficial tallies showed.

“It was a meaningful victory because I received a lot of support from folks my own age. They came out with walkers and canes to support me, which means an awful lot,” Shutter, 76, said when reached by phone late May 16.

No Democratic candidates appeared on the primary ballot, but 320 people cast write-in votes. Shutter said it could take a couple of weeks before those votes are counted, so he won’t know until then whether he’ll face a challenge in the November election.

If reelected, Shutter will be elected to his 10th term in office.

“To have been in office this long is an incredible honor to me because I’ve been given all this time to serve the community in which I live, which is what I wanted to do,” Shutter said. “I wanted another opportunity to do that because there are still some tasks to be done and the people today gave me the opportunity to do that.”

Shaler commissioner candidates who were unopposed in the primary included Democrat Frank Iozzo in Ward 1, Democrat Christopher Squire and Republican Susan H. Fisher in Ward 5 and Democrat Chris Chirdon and Republican Bill Cross in Ward 7.

Uncontested races in the Shaler area

Etna’s council races were all uncontested. In Ward 1, Democrats Megan Tunon and Brad Iannuzzi were the only names on the ballot and secured the two Democrat party nominations. Ward 1 Republican Nicholas Behr Leffakis ran unopposed for his party’s two nominations. There were two write-in votes.

In Ward 2, Democrat Ronald Trader was the only name on the ballot for both parties. There were also two write-in votes for the Republican nomination.

In Ward 3, there are two seats up for election. Democrat Jessica Semler ran unopposed for her party’s nomination for a four-year term. There were no Republicans on the ballot for the four-year term. Republican Colleen E. Schaefer, who was appointed to her seat in January 2022, will have the Republican nomination for a two-year term. There were no Democratic candidates on the ballot for the two-year term. Write-in results were not available.

In the Millvale council race, four Democrats received their party’s four nominations for four-year seats: Paul D. Bossung Jr., Katie Dembowski, Denise Rudar and William G. Stout. Democrat Tyler Halt was the only person on the ballot for the two-year term. There were no Republicans on the ballot for that race and 11 write-in votes were recorded.

In the Shaler Area School Board Race, all candidates were cross-filed and unopposed. Jim Tunstall, was the only candidate on the ballot in Region 1, and received the nomination from both parties. In Region 2 where there were two open spots, two cross-filed candidates each received nominations from both parties: Eileen Phillips and Jason Machajewski. Likewise in Region 3, James L. Fisher and Dorothy J. Pentrancosta received nominations from both parties for two November ballot spots.