Westmoreland judicial candidates spent more than $1.2 million for primary election

The nine candidates who ran for Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court judge in the spring primary spent more than $1.2 million during their campaigns, according to final spending reports filed in Harrisburg.

Voters nominated four candidates, two Republicans and two Democrats, to run in the November general election in which the top three vote-getters will win seats on the county bench.

“That's a big number (to spend). It has to be related to the number of candidates,” said John Greiner, former president of the Westmoreland County Bar Association.

Greiner said he could recall no other county judicial race in which that much money was spent for the primary season.

In the spring run-off, incumbent Republican Judge Harry Smail secured nominations in both the GOP and Democratic races. Democrat Scott Mears also won nominations in both party primaries.

Incumbent Democrat David Regoli won the second Democratic nomination, while state Rep. Tim Krieger, a Republican, won the second GOP nomination.

The top spender in the race, according to financial reports, was New Kensington attorney Leslie Uncapher Zellers, who listed more than $266,000 in expenses. She finished eighth among the field of nine candidates, who all cross-filed to seek both parties' nominations.

According to his financial reports, Regoli spent more than $227,000 during the spring campaign season, including about $38,000 in the last month of the race.

Smail spent a total of more than $182,000, with about $41,000 in expenses earmarked for the end of the primary campaign.

Krieger spent a total of nearly $130,000 during the campaign, including more than $53,000 in the final month. Mears' reports showed his spending topped $150,000 for the primary and about $63,000 in the last days of the race.

Greiner said he believes that level of spending limits the pool of candidates seeking a seat on the bench.

“It makes it more difficult for qualified candidates to run for office because of the amount of money you have to have going in. You have to have deep pockets to compete,” Greiner said.

The four remaining judicial candidates have yet to fully ramp up their fall campaigns, although they have continued to meet voters in the weeks since the primary.

While campaign reports indicated much of the money raised and spent by all nine primary candidates came from personal accounts, political experts predicted the four remaining candidates will have help in the fall.

Westmoreland County Republican Committee Chairman Michael Korns said he expected the state and county committees to support the Smail and Krieger campaigns through get-out-the-vote efforts as well as other financial contributions.

“We usually take these races very seriously. I expect we'll probably see state and county resources in the fall, more than we did in the spring,” Korns said.

Democratic Committee Chairwoman Lorraine Petrosky said “no comment” when asked about the her party's expected support of Mears and Regoli this fall.

Rich Cholodofsky is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 724-830-6293 or rcholodofsky@tribweb.com.