Luzerne County released unofficial general election results from the final six precincts Thursday, and they did not change the outcome of any countywide races.
In the county controller race, Republican Walter Griffith ended up receiving a total 29,938 votes to unseat incumbent Democrat Michelle Bednar, who had an unofficial tally of 28,398 votes.
Stefanie Salavantis was the top vote-getter in the race for two county Court of Common Pleas judge seats, receiving 41,896 votes. Tarah Toohil secured the second judgeship, with 31,926 votes. Alexandra Kokura Kravitz did not make the cut, receiving 28,645 votes in the unofficial tally.
The five winners in the county council race — all Republicans — and their unofficial vote totals: John Lombardo, 30,899; Chris Perry, 29,890; Brian Thornton, 28,399; Kevin Lescavage, 26,917; and Gregory S. Wolovich Jr., 26,259.
No Democrats secured seats. The candidates and their vote tallies: Matthew Vough, 25,161; Sheila Saidman, 24,125; Jane Walsh Waitkus, 22,273; Jimmy Sabatino, 22,015; and Maryann V. Velez, 20,131.
These totals do not include provisional and flagged mail ballots that must be reviewed by the county Election Board at Friday’s adjudication, but there do not appear to be enough of those to change outcomes in any county races.
In total, there are 878 outstanding mail and provisional ballots, but some won’t be counted due to deficiencies, such as missing signatures or secrecy envelopes.
Griffith has a 1,540 lead over Bednar, which exceeds the number of ballots pending adjudication. The gap between Toohil and Kokura Kravitz is 3,281. Vough would need 1,098 votes to surpass Wolovich.
DA tops
Incumbent Republican District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce was unopposed on the ballot and received the most votes — 44,390 — of all countywide candidates, the unofficial tally shows.
Overall, 61,162 ballots were cast by county voters, for a turnout of 30.22%, the posting says. The county has 202,389 registered voters.
That means nearly 73% of voters selected Sanguedolce.
“It’s flattering. Very rarely do you get that high of a percentage,” said Sanguedolce, a Republican. “I hope it’s some reflection that the public approves of the job that our office is doing.”
Under new state legislation, Sanguedolce, previously First Assistant DA, was appointed to fill the DA seat vacated by Salavantis in March.
Litigation filed by Sanguedolce and county council is still pending in county court over the election board’s decision to place the DA race on the ballot for a two-year term Tuesday instead of waiting until 2023. Sanguedolce said he is still reviewing options on how to proceed in the legal action.
View results
The final unofficial general election results from all 186 precincts are posted on the main page at luzernecounty.org.
Results in the six precincts were not included in the county’s election night tally because further review and processing was required, officials said.
The delay impacted one precinct in Hazle Township and five precincts in Swoyersville, Plymouth Township and Bear Creek Township.
Results in the latter three municipalities had been sequestered due to previously reported mail ballot errors that had been corrected on the electronic ballot marking devices at polling places. The Hazle Township results were not included in the election night posting because they were delivered to the election bureau late.