Days after two Republican row officers were ousted by former longtime Democrats who only recently switched to the GOP, party officials in Westmoreland County are looking for reasons why.

The apparent primary victory of Katie Pecarchik over Register of Wills Jon Wian and John Ackerman’s defeat of incumbent Coroner Tim Carson came as a surprise to political observers.

Many are wondering why the GOP couldn’t muscle their endorsed candidates to the finish line in the only two contested countywide races on the primary ballot.

“I don’t know there is a deep cause and logical meaning to this. Those folks had large bases of support, and the goal is to ultimately motivate your supporters to get out and vote,” said Republican Committee Chairman Bill Bretz.

Both winners had built-in issues on which to campaign.

Register of wills

Pecarchik served as acting register of wills for more than five months after she helped to revamp and retool the office where estate records are filed, adoptions are processed and marriage licenses are obtained and stored. She initially worked two decades in the office before retiring in 2024 but was rehired after judicial orders stripped management duties from Republican Sherry Magretti Hamilton, who a year earlier had been elected to her third term.

Judges found Hamilton neglected the office, which resulted in filing backlogs and other operational issues. She eventually was forced to resign. A conservator was appointed to take over management duties, and Pecarchik was hired to oversee those changes.

Wian, chief of staff to Republican Commissioner Sean Kertes, in February was appointed by Gov. Josh Shapiro and confirmed by the state Senate to replace Pecarchik and serve out the remaining year as register of wills.

Pecarchik framed the campaign as a race between someone with experience at running the office and that of a politically connected newcomer.

Coroner

Meanwhile, the coroner’s race featured Carson, who worked in various capacities at the courthouse and owns a restaurant and catering business, challenged by a former deputy coroner who resigned in 2022 after 20 years on the job. Ackerman claimed no ill will led to his resignation, but throughout the campaign criticized Carson for terminating the office’s canine program to help identify and detect human remains. Ackerman oversaw that program.

Pecarchik and Ackerman had never been elected to county offices and were running for the first time as Republicans. According to election records, Pecarchik had been registered as a Democrat from 1991 until she changed her party affiliation in 2024. Ackerman had been a Democrat from 1975 until he became a Republican in 2022.

Bretz said neither’s former Democratic affiliation came into play when the committee made its endorsements of Wian and Carson this spring. He noted Carson was a Democrat before switching his registration in 2012.

Ultimately, Bretz suggested low voter turnout benefited Pecarchik and Ackerman. Fewer than 25% of registered voters cast ballots in the primary.

“We need to motivate our folks to go out, get engaged and participate in these elections,” Bretz said, acknowledging the committee likely will consider future endorsements and will back Pecarchik and Ackerman in the fall.

Finances, geography

Money didn’t appear have a major influence in the races.

According to the most recent campaign finance reports on file with the county’s election bureau, Wian substantially outspent Pecarchik in the weeks before the primary. Wian raised more than $37,000, including donations from political action committees for Kertes, which gave $6,000, along with smaller amounts from Commissioner Doug Chew, state Reps. Eric Davanzo and Eric Nelson and former state Sen. Bob Regola.

Wian also gave his campaign a $5,000 loan, which helped enable his election effort to spend nearly $29,000 through May 5.

Pecarchik’s campaign spent just $5,400 during the same period. Her campaign raised just $5,250 and as of May 5 was $167 in debt.

Carson and Ackerman’s campaigns were on equal financial footing. Carson spent $30,000 and Ackerman spent nearly $29,000 during the lead-up to the May 20 election. But Carson’s campaign was funded through donations, while Ackerman’s was primarily paid for through $25,000 in loans from the candidate.

Scott Avolio, who spent years as an executive member of the Republican committee, suggested that in addition to low turnout, geography played a role in the outcome.

“In a low turnout race, geography matters,” Avolio said.

Hempfield, the hometown of both Ackerman and Pecarchik, was listed under their names on the ballot, where voters were engaged in contentious races for school board and township supervisor. Wian of Salem and Carson of East Huntingdon have local political bases from less-populated communities.

“As you run along the Route 30 corridor from North Huntingdon to Unity, everyone knows where you live. It’s not the same for other communities. Voters identify with the Route 30 corridor, and they’ll vote for their neighbor,” Avolio said.

He said he didn’t believe the winners’ former Democratic Party registrations had much of an impact on the race, noting that less than two decades ago, Republicans were substantially outnumbered in Westmoreland County and held few elected offices.

“I don’t think we’ve reached that tipping point point yet where we don’t vote for someone who was a Democrat. At one point, to be successful in Westmoreland County politics, we strongly encouraged people to switch parties,” Avolio said.

It is unclear whether Pecarchik and Ackerman will have opposition in the fall. No Democrats appeared on the primary ballot in those races, but more than 3,300 write-in votes were logged for coroner and 2,300 for register of wills. County election officials said write-in vote tallies could be finished this week.

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