All primary candidates for Pine-Richland school board win party nominations

All the candidates seeking party nominations to run for three open seats on the Pine-Richland school board emerged victorious in the primary for a square-off in the fall general election.

In Region 1, incumbents Greg DiTullio and Mark Casciani secured the top two spots in a field of three candidates on the Republican primary ticket.

DiTullio and Casciani did not cross-file as Democrats, which is permitted in school board elections.

The third primary candidate on the GOP ticket was Ashley Fortier, who cross-filed and won a nomination on the Democrat ticket along with Heather Curtin.

DiTullio, Casciani, Fortier and Curtin will run in the Nov. 7 general election to fill the two Region 1 seats that will be open at the end of the year.

Region 1 has three representatives on the school board. The third seat is held by Lisa Hillman, who was elected to her first term in 2021. Her term runs through 2025.

The candidates for Region 2 are vying to fill the seat that will be vacated by school director Peter Lyons, who did not seek reelection to a fourth term.

In Region 2, two candidates seeking their first elected office cross-filed to appear on both the Democratic and Republican tickets.

Russell Patterson won the Democratic nomination and Leslie Miller got the most votes on the GOP ticket. They will face each other in the fall to fill the open seat.

Region 2 has three representatives on the school board. School directors Amy Terchick and Christina Brussalis were elected in November 2021 to terms that run through 2025.

Four candidates cross-filed in the primary for Region 3 and all of them won party nominations to run for two open seats.

Voters from each party were asked to nominate three people.

On the Democratic ticket, Jennifer Beuse, incumbent Matthew M. Mehalik and Philip R. Morrissette won nominations.

The fourth candidate, Mike Wiethorn, lost a Democratic bid but won a nomination on the Republican ticket along with Morrissette and Mehalik, which means the four candidates will run again in the fall for the two seats.

Among them is incumbent school director Matthew Mehalik, who was appointed to the board in January 2018 to fill a vacancy and won the seat in 2019.

Region 3 school director Carla Meyer, who was elected in 2017, is not seeking reelection to the board.

The third Region 3 seat on the board is held by John Joseph Cassidy, whose term runs through 2025.