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The following results for Tuesday's general election are complete, but unofficial.
Mars Borough Council
Incumbents Mike Fleming, Christine Clutter, Rob Bost and Julie Schultheis won the four open seats for council.
Five candidates were running for the seats up for reelection. Challenger Anastacia Nelson, who was running for the first time, did not gain a seat.
Mike Fleming, a Republican, came in first with 26.17% of the vote, Republican Christine Clutter had 22.51% of the vote, Julie Schultheis, who ran on both the Democratic and Republican lines, took 20.31% of the vote and Rob Bost, who ran on both lines, received 19.76% of the vote. Anastacia Nelson, a Democrat, received 10.34% of the vote.
A total of 1,093 votes were cast for borough council.
“I'm excited to look forward to another term,” Bost said. “For a non-presidential, non-governor election year, I thought it was a pretty good turnout.”
Nelson said that even though she did not win, she enjoyed the experience of running for office.
“I'm looking forward to running again, and I can use the experience in the future.” said Nelson. “I got to learn a lot these last couple of weeks.”
Cranberry Township
Supervisors Dick Hadley and Mike Manipole will both serve an additional term on the Cranberry Township board of supervisors, according to unofficial vote totals Tuesday night, eking out competition from two Democratic candidates.
Manipole was the top vote-getter in the election, receiving 34.4% of the vote, while Hadley was just behind, with 31.5%. Karen Schroeder received 17.5% of the vote, and Nick Kotik won just 16.3%.
Manipole said he is glad to have been reelected, seeing an opportunity to finish some initiatives and projects started or significantly advanced under his tenure.
“It's really nice to see that the process worked; it took its route,” he said. “We have a lot of unfinished business to work on when it comes to transportation and managing our growth, and I'm looking forward to another term to work on that. It's very exciting. That's the best thing about being in Cranberry: Exciting things are happening.”
Prior to the election, Kotik brought up his perceived issues of how township supervisors have managed Cranberry's growth, saying he ran not because he expected to win, but because he wanted to let the incumbents know there were many voices in Cranberry, not all of which agree with their current methods.
At the polls, Manipole said, were people who were not simply voting because they wanted the old guard or new blood for no reason, but rather informed voters who were willing to have conversations with him regarding the township.
“I think it was really nice that a lot of people were still open-minded and still interested in talking, rather than being closed-minded,” he said.
Lancaster Township supervisors
Greg Kessler staved off two separate bids by John Meyer in his race for Lancaster Township supervisor, receiving nearly two-thirds of the vote share, according to unnoficial Tuesday night vote totals.
Kessler, who defeated Meyer in the Republican primary in May, secured his seat Tuesday by a larger margin than that by which he'd won in May, receiving 61.4% of the 947 votes.
Meyer, who ran for the seat on the Democratic ticket after receiving sufficient write-in votes from Democrats in May to place him back on the ballot, received just 38.5%, less than the 39.1% he received in May.
When he takes his seat in January, Kessler will replace incumbent Kris Kniess, who opted not to run for reelection.
Meyer had maintained a staunch anti-development view, and expressed his disdain for the manner in which Lancaster was managed by its current supervisors. Kessler did not respond to repeated requests for comment prior to the election.
Kessler serves on the township's zoning hearing board.
Seven Fields Borough Council
Jeff Smouse will join the reelected Kimberly Regan-Koch and Brian Trimble on Seven Fields Borough Council after voters mandated him to council, according to unofficial results.
Smouse, who edged out councilman Kevin Caridad in the May primary election, received 22.2% of the vote, and his Republican compatriots Regan-Koch and Trimble received 22.9% and 24.1%, respectively.
Their Democratic challengers, Kim Grasso and Angela Nickum, received 15.7% and 13% of the vote, respectively.
Each candidate, regardless of party, identified the positives of Seven Fields, but acknowledged there is work to be done to either improve the borough or ensure its residents can maintain their quality of life.
Both Trimble and Regan-Koch have served one previous term, with the latter being elected to the position of council president halfway through her first term. Smouse will supplant Caridad, whom he similarly unseated in the Republican primary.
Middlesex Township supervisors
Incumbent Donald Marshall, a Republican, defeated Democratic challenger David McMaster for a seat on the Middlesex Township board of supervisors.
Marshall received 63.14% of the vote with 978 votes, while McMaster received 36.60% with 567 votes.
A total of 1,549 votes were cast for supervisor. Marshall and McMaster are Republicans, and McMaster was running on the Democratic ticket.
This will be Marshall's third term after taking office two six-year terms ago,
Marshall did not respond to calls by press time.
At the moment, the board of Supervisors is balancing increasing development in Middlesex Township with the conservation of the township's natural resources.
McMaster, who had previously served a term as supervisor in 2002, ran because of his concerns about transparency of leadership and development expansion in the area.
“I thought that the township had a real good turnout, and want to thank all the residents who came out and voted, no matter how the election turns out,” McMaster said. “I was there from the very beginning from 7 in the morning to 8 at night, and I was pleased with the turnout.”
