Cheswick Council write-in candidates fall short of winning seats
A slate of three Cheswick Council write-in candidates appears to have fallen short of getting enough votes to win a seat on the council.
According to a tally of the voting machine printouts posted at the borough fire hall, the three candidates — Geoff Benedict, Rose Cale and Rich Graf — each got around 150 votes in Tuesday's general election, accounting for the majority of write-in votes cast.
That placed each of them about 65 votes shy of topping the fourth-placer finisher for the four seats up for election – current council President Paul Jack.
In the race for four council seats with five candidates on the ballot, Jack came in fourth with 213 votes, including absentees, according to unofficial but complete Allegheny County Elections results.
A total of 488 write-in votes were cast for council. The trio of Benedict, Cale and Graf appeared to have garnered about 450, or 92 percent, of them.
The three write-ins were allied with Catherine Crail, who was on the ballot. She was the top vote-getter, with 272 votes.
Crail was disappointed that she was the only one of their “Vote for Accountability” team that got on council. She said it was apparent to them Tuesday night that the write-ins had fallen short.
“They're great people. I think we really would have made a great team,” she said. “It makes it tougher for myself, being a newcomer. I'll do what I can do and that's that.”
In addition to Crail and Jack, both Democrats, also winning election were Republican incumbents Kathleen Gillard, with 260 votes, and Frank Meledandri Jr., 250.
The write-ins also did not top ballot candidate Lewis Accorsi, a Democrat who came in fifth for the four seats and lost with 168 votes.
Allegheny County Elections has not yet officially tallied write-in votes. Vote counts could vary based on how name format and spelling variations are handled.
Brian C. Rittmeyer is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-226-4701, brittmeyer@tribweb.com or on Twitter @BCRittmeyer.
