This week’s primary victory for Westmoreland County Sheriff Jonathan Held sets up a race in November between an incumbent awaiting retrial on public corruption charges and a retired district judge.

But the two-term Republican’s pending legal woes won’t be a campaign issue, Democrat James Albert said Wednesday.

“His legal issues I’m not going to speak about at all. You’re innocent until proven guilty. I’m going to focus on leadership and his decision making,” Albert said.

Held defeated three challengers in Tuesday’s Republican primary, a race that featured two of his deputies and a retired Greensburg police officer.

Held received 32% of the vote and finished about 900 votes ahead of second-place Steve Felder, the president of the union that represents court-related workers, including deputy sheriffs.

Albert served nearly three decades as a district judge in Greensburg after an eight-year career as a deputy sheriff. He was unopposed in the Democratic primary for sheriff.

“I’m going to talk about his bad decisions in his hiring, the firings and the amount of lawsuits filed against the office,” Albert said.

Held, throughout his primary campaign, touted his oversight of the sheriff’s office without discussing his legal case. Held said his primary win was a result of “the public seeing what is truly going on.”

Held was charged last year with public corruption based on allegations he directed his on-duty sheriff’s department staffers and deputies to perform chores for his reelection campaign in 2015. Held denied the allegations as they went to trial in December. A mistrial was declared after jurors were unable to reach a unanimous verdict.

Held has sought the dismissal of the criminal case based on double jeopardy grounds. An appeal is pending in the state’s Superior Court.

One pending criminal charge against Held is a felony count of conflict of interest, an offense that could disqualify him from serving in public office, if convicted.

The county’s Republican party leadership took no formal position with regard to Held’s candidacy this spring. The party did not endorse candidates in any race.

Republican support for Held heading into this fall’s general election is still to be determined.

Westmoreland County’s GOP Committee Chairman Kerry Jobe said Wednesday that he’s not sure just how or whether the local party should take a position on the sheriff’s campaign.

“I don’t know what the options are. We’re still figuring out where we go from here,” Jobe said.

The committee’s 32-member executive board is expected to meet next month to plot out strategy for the general election. That committee includes the heads of local districts as well as all countywide elected officials, including Held.

Meanwhile, Republicans will have to figure out how best to deal with its newly formed slate of candidates for county commissioner.

Both primary winners nominated Tuesday, microbiologist Doug Chew and Sean Kertes, the chief of staff of retiring Commissioner Charles Anderson, made statements during the campaign that suggested they would not be able to run in tandem in an effort to reclaim a courthouse majority for the GOP.

“I hope we can bridge the gap and pull them together. It’s silly for us not to have some type of coordinated effort,” Jobe said.

Incumbent Democratic Commissioners Gina Cerilli and Ted Kopas were unopposed this spring, and both have suggested they will run independent campaigns this fall.

Meanwhile, both parties will have candidates for the remaining four row office jobs on the November general election ballot.

Two-term incumbent Controller Jeff Balzer, a Republican, will be challenged by Democrat Mark Mears, the athletic director for Greater Latrobe Area High School.

Republican Treasurer Jared Squires, who is seeking a third term in office, will be challenged by Democrat Matthew Mascara.

Register of Wills Sherry Magretti Hamilton, a Republican from Hempfield, is seeking her second term in office against Democrat Katie Pecarchik, an employee in the same office.

Recorder of Deeds Tom Murphy, a Democrat, is seeking his second consecutive four-year term and is being challenged by Republican Frank Schiefer. It will be the third campaign between both men, with each previously winning one time. In 2011, Schiefer ousted Murphy, then a three-term incumbent. Four years later, Murphy defeated Schiefer to reclaim the office.

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