Out of 11 candidates who ran in the primary, eight have advanced to the general election in the fall. Above, top row from left: Melissa Torba, Stephen Maund, Mary Joy Reinartz and Nicole Dolan; above, bottom row from left: Nicole King, Glenn Laverty, Christopher Wayock and Kathleen Parsons. Parsons is the only incumbent who is running for re-election.
The votes are in and counted, and according to unofficial Lehigh County primary election results, the race for Southern Lehigh School Board will be a bit narrower in the fall.
Eleven candidates were running in Tuesday’s primary, with all but one cross-filed to appear on both the Democratic and Republican ballots. Only the top four vote-getters on each ballot advance to the general election, which is for four seats on the board.
The top four Democratic vote-getters were (*denotes an incumbent):
- Kathleen Parsons* (Cross-filed) – 1,527 votes
- Melissa Torba (Cross-filed) – 1,437 votes
- Glenn Laverty (Cross-filed) – 1,219 votes
- Nicole Dolan (Cross-filed) – 1,200 votes
The other candidates finished in this order on the Democratic ballot: Timothy Kearney (756 votes), Nicole King (409 votes), Mary Joy Reinartz (359 votes), Christopher Wayock (353 votes), Stephen Maund (217 votes) and Paul Deebel (169 votes), according to the county’s unofficial results.
The top four Republican vote-getters were:
- Christopher Wayock (Cross-filed) – 1,635 votes
- Mary Joy Reinartz (Cross-filed) – 1,253 votes
- Stephen Maund (Cross-filed) – 1,234 votes
- Nicole King (Cross-filed) – 1,200 votes
Danelle Roy, who ran only on the Republican ticket, finished in fifth place with 1,117 votes. The other candidates finished in this order: Paul Deebel (712 votes), Timothy Kearney (530 votes), Kathleen Parsons (488 votes), Melissa Torba (376 votes), Nicole Dolan (364 votes) and Glenn Laverty (362 votes).
Since the Democratic and Republican slates of top-four finishers included no overlap, there will be eight candidates for Southern Lehigh School Board director on the ballot in Nov. 2: Christopher Wayock, Kathleen Parsons, Melissa Torba, Mary Joy Reinartz, Stephen Maund, Glenn Laverty, Nicole Dolan and Nicole King.
The Southern Lehigh School District serves residents of Upper Saucon Township, Coopersburg borough and Lower Milford Township. As of the 2020-2021 school year the district enrolled approximately 3,200 students.
The results from Tuesday’s primary will not be official until they are certified by the county. Certification typically happens 10 days to two weeks after an election is held.