Andrew Lentz never planned to run for political office.

That was, until a friend told the University of Pittsburgh graduate there were no candidates running for tax collector in his hometown, Hempfield.

“I am kind of at the point in my life where I don’t know exactly what I want to do, but if I find something, I can take a shot at it,” said Lentz, 21, a customer service representative for a local bank.

“I’m always down to try something new. I want to see what’s out there in the world.”

Just days after receiving his degree in business management and only two weeks before the May 20 primary election, Lentz began to assemble a write-in campaign — posting on social media and knocking on residents’ doors.

To Lentz’s surprise, he secured the Democratic nomination with 89 write-in votes.

“Whenever we finally saw the results, I was a little shocked myself at how many (votes) I had gotten,” he said. “I was told 10 is the minimum … and that was my goal.”

And from the looks of it, Lentz is likely to secure the office Nov. 4. Current tax collector Faye Rosatti has decided to retire at the end of the year. She told TribLive she will decline the Republican nomination.

Rosatti received 23 Republican write-in votes in May with Lentz receiving 17.

When Rosatti formally declines the nomination, the Republican side of the ballot will be open in November, said Paul DeFloria, voting systems coordinator for the Westmoreland Election Bureau.

Rosatti was elected in 2021. She advocated earlier this year for a pay raise.

The township agreed in late January. It boosted its $13,000 annual payment for the position, which went unchanged for about 35 years, according to Supervisor Doug Weimer.

It will go into effect at the start of the next four-year term in January.

Lentz said he would like to meet Rosatti in advance of the November election.

“I’d like to see what a day in her life looks like,” he said. “I want to see what goes on right now in the office.”

As Lentz continues campaigning, he aims to gauge how Hempfield residents interact with the tax collection office.

“Do people want to come in and drop off checks? Do they want to mail them?” he said. “I want to be able to use that information to see how we can move forward to make this more convenient for everyone in the township.”

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