2 of 3 incumbents fall in Franklin Regional school board primary

Two of three Franklin Regional school board incumbents will not appear on the general-election ballot following losses in Tuesday’s primary election.

According to unofficial results, incumbent Mark Kozlosky came away with the highest vote total, 16.72% of just under 11,000 votes in the Republican primary, but current board member Paul Scheinert (6.29%) could not top newcomers Traci Eshelman Ramey (16.29%), Kevin Kurimsky (16.24%) and Mike Corcetti (15.88%)

“I feel blessed that the community came out to support me and vote, and I look forward to the general election,” said Corcetti, who said his short-term goal if elected is to begin familiarizing himself with the district’s current issues and concerns, “and then work with fellow board members to figure out: what do we need to do in order to improve and make FR a better district than it already is, and continue the excellence it’s already achieved?”

Kevin Kurimsky said he was honored voters chose him.

“I think we have a lot of good folks who have moved forward,” he said. “I know there’s still six for four slots, so there’s still some work to do, but I’m looking forward to the general election in November.”

All candidates were cross-filed, and on the Democratic side of the ballot, newcomer Hillary McClain was the top vote-getter, taking 16.27% of just over 5,200 votes. Ramey (14.18%), Kurimsky (12.35%) and first-time candidate George App (13.25%) were winners.

“I’m unbelievably excited,” McClain said. “I can’t believe the amount of support I had within the community.”

App, a registered Republican, said it felt a little strange knowing his name would be appearing on the Democratic side of the general-election ballot.

“To be honest, I’m a pretty moderate guy. And, in a place like Murrysville, it is a little weird, but I was expecting to do a little better on the Democratic ticket,” App said. “This got my name out there, and I’ll need to be visible and pound the pavement a bit. But now people know a little something about me and my platform.”

In a race that will fill out the remaining two years of former board member Gary English’s term, newcomer Diana Altieri Hand beat out incumbent Gregg Neavin by more than 1,000 votes on the Republican ballot, and just over 200 on the Democratic ballot.

“I believe my success on both sides shows that our community is looking for a change in leadership that has new and fresh ideas to benefit our students and community,” Altieri Hand said. “I’ll fight to ensure our children are educated to succeed in life with a common-sense approach and confidence to pursue their goals in life. We need to maintain the buildings we have to avoid unnecessary expenditures and unnecessary tax increases.”