Hammers, Mahady, Tyburski and Fanchalsky appear to win district judge races

Westmoreland County voters in November will officially elect new magisterial district judges to preside over courts based in Derry, Penn Township, Unity and Youngwood.

But it appeared from unofficial election returns that all four races had already been decided.

Each district had contested races Tuesday in which candidates cross-filed to run in both Democratic and Republican primaries.

The winners in November will served a six-year term.

Derry

Three candidates ran to replace retiring Judge Mark Bilik.

They were Kelly Tua Hammers, 50, an assistant county prosecutor from Derry Township; former Blairsville police officer Janelle R. Hood, 51, of Derry Township; and Amy Altman McChesney, 42, a former district judge secretary and clerk of courts employee.

With all of the precincts reporting, Hammers appears to have won the seat, according to unofficial returns.

Hammers, the lone registered Democrat in the race, received about 69% of the Democratic vote. McChesney received 19% and Hood had nearly 12%.

In the Republican primary, Hammers had 49% of the vote, McChesney 31% and Hood 19%.

Penn Township

Seeking to replace Judge Helen Kistler, who will retire at year’s end, were three candidates.

They were Trafford Council President Kris Cardiff, 44; Georgia Snowden, 50, of Penn Township, a security worker at Live! Casino Pittsburgh at the Westmoreland Mall; and county assistant district attorney Rebecca Calisti Tyburski, 45, of Penn Township.

Tyburski led in the Democratic primary with 60% of the vote, according to unofficial returns. Snowden was in second with 24%, followed by Cardiff with 16%.

In the Republican primary, Tyburski had 54% of the vote, followed by Snowden with 31% and Cardiff with 16%, according to unofficial returns.

Unity

Two candidates, both registered Republicans, sought to replace retiring Judge Michael Mahady.

Tamara Mahady, 32, of Latrobe, an assistant public defender, and Rebecca Salandro, 39, of Unity, a caseworker with Westmoreland Case Management and Support who assists clients in dealings with district court system, both sought party nominations.

Tamara Mahady was on pace to replace her cousin as judge, as she topped both the Democratic and Republican ballots.

In the Democratic primary, Mahady was ahead with 59% of the vote. Salandro had received 41%.

In the Republican primary, Mahady had 61% of the vote to Salandro’s 39%.

About 190 mail-in ballots from four Mt. Pleasant Township precincts were not included with the early count, as they were sequestered and will be counted separately after an initial ballot error excluded the district judge race.

Youngwood

Three registered Republicans were seeking to replace Judge Anthony Bompiani of Hempfield, who resigned last year.

They were South Greensburg Police Chief Scott Fanchalsky, 49, of Hempfield; Deputy Sheriff Irvin Shipley, 53, of Youngwood; and Hempfield Township Supervisor Doug Weimer, 50.

The office oversees court cases from Youngwood, South Greensburg, Southwest Greensburg and parts of Hempfield.

With all of the precincts reporting, Fanchalsky appears to have won the seat, according to unofficial election returns.

He received 56% of the Democratic vote, with Weimer holding 26%. Shipley was in third with 17%.

In the Republican primary, Fanchalsky had 44% of the vote, followed by Weimer with 32% and Shipley with 25%.