5 candidates to again appear on ballot in November in Deer Lakes School Board race

All five candidates vying for four spots on the Deer Lakes School Board will appear on the ballot in the general election in November.

Incumbent Kristi Minnick and new candidates Brian Brown, Jeremy Love, Jonathan Majernik and Traci Stotler all cross-filed to run on both the Democratic and Republican tickets in Tuesday’s primary.

With 10 out of 11 precincts reporting, preliminary election results on Thursday afternoon showed Minnick, Love, Majernik and Brown winning the four slots on the Democratic ballot.

Minnick, Stotler, Majernik and Love are leading on the Republican ticket.

One precinct in West Deer has not yet reported election results. It is among 14 precincts in Allegheny County in which the memory sticks were left in the locked scanners, according to a county spokeswoman. She said those scanners will be returned to the county elections warehouse over the next few days.

“I expected it to be pretty tight,” Love said, noting that he had expected all five candidates to secure a spot on the November ballot. “I thought the way everybody was aligned there would be a split of some sort.”

Love said he plans to continue communicating with people in the community about their needs and opinions as he prepares for a contested November race.

“I’ll still be out there, like I am now, with the people, talking to people, getting their opinions, still trying to build up their confidence in me to get their vote in November,” he said.

Brown, too, said he was eager for the November election and “stating my case for why I would be a good addition to the board.”

Stotler said she was happy to earn a spot on the November ballot, saying she would “continue to look at the issues as they arise with a critical thinking and common sense viewpoint.”

“Freedom is important to me, and I love that we have the freedom to vote for the school board members,” Stotler said.

Minnick said she was pleased with the election results and the array of candidates eager to serve the community.

“Our community was presented with a diverse slate of candidates who each presented compelling platforms,” she said. “All candidates performed well at the polls, and I was nervous about how close the voting was.”

Minnick said she believed Love and Majernik were both “well positions to be elected in the fall” and said she planned to begin informally meeting with them in June to assist with their transition.

Prior to the election, candidates told the Tribune-Review that their main goals if elected included helping students catch up academically after the covid-19 pandemic, avoiding tax increases, bolstering mental health resources and providing more transparency.