Sentinel Election Night Blog: Gunnison concedes race for commissioner
Print
Share
Email to a friend
Add This
Article Rating10:30 p.m. Karen Gunnison just finished speaking to the Cumberland County Republican Committee and conceded her race for commissioner.
With 92 percent of precincts reported, Gunnison trails badly with 24 percent. Commissioners Gary Eichelberger and Bruce Barclay polled 38 and 37 percent respectively.
"I did try to work as a team," Gunnison said, stressing that she tried to run a positive campaign. "It was tempting to go negative and we were encouraged to go negative."
County GOP Chairman Victor Stabile congratulated Barclay and Eichelberger and said it is time for the committee to rally around the winners in the fall.
Republicans split into two camps in February after the committee endorsed Barclay and Gunnison. Stabile saluted Gunnison for her contributions.
"Even though you did not win this evening, i want to thank you for getting us to think about ourselves and what we're doing in the commissioner's office," he said.
Stabile said he does not think the Republican Committee needs to reorganize or change the way it does business.
"We win some and we lose some," he told the crowd. "In the end, it's how we conduct ourselves as a party."
-- John Hilton, Sentinel Reporter
10:15 p.m.: There will be some familiar faces running for the four open slots on Carlisle council in November.
With 95 percent of the precincts reporting for Tuesday's primary election, Republicans Bill Kronenberg, Frank Rankin, Donald Grell and Ken Gossert -- all of whom have served on borough council -- have strong holds on the GOP's four nominations.
In his first time running for borough office, newcomer Brent Sailhamer -- who at age 28 was easily the youngest candidate -- didn't make it past the first round.
-- Jessica Bruni, Sentinel Reporter
10 p.m. Commissioner Gary Eichelberger continues to enjoy a commanding lead in the Republican primary election.
With 52 percent of precincts reported, Eichelberger even led popular Commissioner Bruce Barclay, 39-36 percent. Challenger Karen Gunnison, who set her sights on knocking off Eichelberger, considering him the weaker incumbent, trailed with 23 percent.
"A bit of a surprise," said Cumberland County Republican Committee Chairman Victor Stabile, before publicly announcing the numbers to a hushed crowd of Republicans at the Holiday Inn West in Hampden Township.
With many of the precincts already reported being from Gunnison's home base on the West Shore, her supporters privately acknowledged the race is all but over.
-- John Hilton, Sentinel Reporter
9:54 p.m. With 87 percent of precincts reporting, Monroe Township voters appear to be giving the supervisory nod to newcomer John Dwyer, who is currently showing 486 votes to incumbent Kevin Miller's 351.
Both Dwyer and Miller, who has been a supervisor for 12 years, are Republicans. Whoever wins will face Democrat Donald Long in November.
-- Heather Stauffer, Sentinel Reporter
9:38 p.m.: The Act 1 referendum question appears to be tightest in areas where the break-even point - the income level at which a homeowner would pay more if the referendum were approved - is highest.
Mechanicsburg Area School District and West Perry School District have the highest break-even points at $59,166 and $62,250, respectively. The results there stand at 57 percent against to 47 percent for in Mechanicsburg and 56 percent against to 43 percent against in West Perry.
Results in the other districts, where the break-even point is lower, are more lopsidedly against the referendum, hovering around 60 percent against and 40 percent for.
BIG SPRING SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENDUM
TAXPAYER RELIEF ACT
VOTE FOR NOT MORE THAN 1
YES . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,019 39.28 1,019 0
NO. . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,575 60.72 1,575 0
CAMP HILL SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENDUM TAXPAYER RELIEF ACT
VOTE FOR NOT MORE THAN 1
YES . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 48.72 95 0
NO. . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 51.28 100 0
CARLISLE AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENDUM
TAXPAYER RELIEF ACT
VOTE FOR NOT MORE THAN 1
YES . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,419 41.33 1,419 0
NO. . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,014 58.67 2,014 0
CUMBERLAND VALLEY SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENDUM
TAXPAYER RELIEF ACT
VOTE FOR NOT MORE THAN 1
YES . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,322 37.56 1,322 0
NO. . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,198 62.44 2,198 0
EAST PENNSBORO AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENDUM
TAXPAYER RELIEF ACT
VOTE FOR NOT MORE THAN 1
YES . . . . . . . . . . . . 469 38.10 469 0
NO. . . . . . . . . . . . . 762 61.90 762 0
MECHANICSBURG AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENDUM
TAXPAYER RELIEF ACT
VOTE FOR NOT MORE THAN 1
YES . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,294 42.54 1,294 0
NO. . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,748 57.46 1,748 0
SHIPPENSBURG AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENDUM
TAXPAYER RELIEF ACT
VOTE FOR NOT MORE THAN 1
YES . . . . . . . . . . . . 436 39.53 436 0
NO. . . . . . . . . . . . . 667 60.47 667 0
SOUTH MIDDLETON SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENDUM
TAXPAYER RELIEF ACT
VOTE FOR NOT MORE THAN 1
YES . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 33.68 32 0
NO. . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 66.32 63 0
WEST SHORE SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENDUM
TAXPAYER RELIEF ACT
VOTE FOR NOT MORE THAN 1
YES . . . . . . . . . . . . 750 43.30 750 0
NO. . . . . . . . . . . . . 982 56.70 982 0
-- Heather Stauffer, Sentinel Reporter
9:30 p.m. With 70 percent of the precincts counted, voters in Carlisle Area School District appear to be endorsing the incumbents.
So far, incumbents Gerald Eby, Nancy Fishman and Linda Manning are in the lead, with more than 1,400 votes apiece. The others are lagging about 300 votes behind them.
-- Heather Stauffer, Sentinel Reporter
9:30 p.m.: With more than 20 percent of the precincts reporting after the polls closed for Tuesday's primary election, newcomer Brent Sailhamers is lagging behind in the GOP race for the four open slots on Carlisle borough council.
Sailhamer, 28, is the only one of the five Republican candidates who has not previously held office on borough council.
Leading the pack thus far is incumbent Bill Kronenberg with 776 votes. Kronenberg, who owns Smith's Appliances, is running for a fourth term. Also running for a fourth term is Frank Rankin, who is just right behind Kronenberg with 766 votes. Incumbent -- and current council president -- Donald Grell has snagged 701 votes while Ken Gossert, who served on borough council until 2003, has 686 votes.
Four candidates also have filed for the four Democratic nominations. They are Sean Shultz, Karl Marchut, Dorothy Lauderbaugh and Susan Hoefler.
The four are expected to face the four GOP primary winners in the Novermber election.
-- Jessica Bruni, Sentinel Reporter
At 9:22 p.m.: With 52 of 101 precincts reporting, voters appear to be leaning away from approving the Act 1 tax shift referendum. The percentages of No and Yes votes, respectively are as follows:
Big Spring - 60 to 39
Camp Hill - 51 to 48
Carlisle Area - 58 to 41
Cumberland Valley - 62 to 37
East Pennsboro - 61 to 38
Mechanicsburg - 54 to 45
Shippensburg Area - 61 to 38
South Middleton - 66 to 33
West Shore - 57 to 42
-- Heather Stauffer, Sentinel Reporter
9:14 p.m.: With just under half the votes counted for the Act 1 Tax Shift Referendum, all Cumberland County School districts appear to be leaning away from replacing part of the property tax with an increase in the Earned Income Tax. Some of the numbers are closer than others, but so far, the No votes outweigh the Yes votes in every district.
-- Heather Stauffer, Sentinel Reporter
9:11 p.m.: With just under half the votes counted, Dr. Allyn Perkins appears to have an edge over Louise Keckler in the Dickinson Township Supervisor race. The latest vote totals for the candidates, both Republicans, are 294 for Perkins and 184 for Keckler.
In the Monroe Township Supervisor race, with a little more than a quarter of the votes counted, newcomer John B. Dwyer Sr. has an edge over incumbent Kevin Miller. The latest numbers for the Republicans are 238 votes for Dwyer to 141 votes for Miller.
-- Heather Stauffer, Sentinel Reporter
8:45 p.m.: The party is off to a festive start at Theo's Bar and Grille, where early returns show commissioner Gary Eichelberger running strong in the County Commissioners primary election.
Both totals from East Pennsboro Precincts 2 and 4 show Eichelberger with 239 votes, commissioner Bruce Barclay with 182, and challenger Karen Gunnison with 159.
Totals from Upper Allen Precinct 4 show Barclay with 238, Eichelberger with 224 and Gunnison with 124.
Totals from Upper Allen Precinct 2 show Eichleberger with 411, Barclay with 396 and Gunnison with 231.
Eichelberger just arrived at 8:40 to crowd cheers. Barclay is already here to support his colleague.
The vote totals are unofficial and were reported by Republican poll watchers at those precincts.
-- John Hilton, Sentinel reporter
7 p.m.: The polls close in less than an hour and then the waiting begins.
Republicans are gathering in two camps to await the results of the race for Cumberland County commissioner. Early returns are generally available by 9 p.m. The Sentinel will have constant vote updates throughout the evening.
As usual, the county GOP committee will hold court at the Holiday Inn West in Hampden Township. Commissioner challenger Karen Gunnison -- along with Treasurer John Gross and District Attorney David Freed, both unopposed -- are expected to attend.
Commissioner Gary Eichelberger is hosting his own party for supporters at Theo's Bar and Grille in Camp Hill. Interestingly, Commissioner Bruce Barclay, endorsed by the committee along with Gunnison, said he may attend Eichelberger's function.
Otherwise, Barclay said he is staying home and preparing to go to work Wednesday.
Log on to The Sentinel website for full election coverage as the evening progresses. I will be sending live reports from both locations.
-- John Hilton, Sentinel reporter
