Election day approaches in SusqCo

10/29/2025

By Lauren Royce, Editor
SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY — As Election Day on Nov. 4 nears, voters are encouraged to participate in their municipal elections. While many races are solo, others are not.
“We sent out 2,570 ballots and we have gotten back 1,714,” said Leighanna Overfield, who works in the county’s election office. As for participation numbers, “I believe we pulled 18% (of the county’s registered voters) in the primary compared to, I think it was 80-something in last November,” she said. There are about 27,000 registered voters in Susquehanna County.
“Our county races that we have, they’re running uncontested. So our sheriff candidate John Oliver doesn’t have a running mate,” said SarahRae Luce, Deputy Chief Clerk of the Susquehanna County Commissioners’ Office. She oversees the election office. “Our prothonotary clerk of courts, Jan Krupinski, along with our district judge (Suzanne Brainard), she does not have anybody running against her either. After that it comes down to, they’re all municipal offices.”
For some township and borough offices, there is no candidate or one candidate running. Nearly all tax collector positions across townships and boroughs have just one candidate running uncontested, while other positions such as Forest City Borough council member elections have as many as eight runners: Christopher A. Degonzagu (R), Tracey Lazier (R), Eileen R. Lynch (R), Michael Norella (D), Jason S. Obelenus (R), Rebecca Scoggins (D), Jaime Walker (D), John Michael Zasik (D).
In Bridgewater Township, all positions for supervisor, auditor, tax collector and inspector of election are running uncontested.
Early vote-in is known as over the counter mail-in or mail-in voting in Pennsylvania. Tuesday was the last day to apply for a mail-in or civilian absentee ballot. With over the counter mail-in, people can come down to the elections office at the Susquehanna County Courthouse and register, fill a ballot all in one go.
Term limits vary by position.
“Basically odd years are your municipal elections,” Luce said. “So like the township supervisors, the term itself is six years. But there’s normally three of them in a township, and then every two years their office would go on the ballot. So they rotate, so all three of them are not up at the same time.”
The same goes for councilmen for boroughs, who have four year terms. Auditors are also on six year terms with three auditors rotating every two years. Tax collectors hold four year terms as one person, same as judge of elections and inspector of elections.
The races for Judge of the Superior Court and Judge of the Commonwealth Court are probably the most contested races to watch, Luce said. As well as the retention vote for three Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices: Christine Donohue, Kevin Dougherty and David Wecht.
Brandon Neuman (D), Maria Battista (R) and Danile Wassmer (L) are on the ballot for Judge of the Superior Court. Stella Tsai (D) and Matt Wolford (R) are on the ballot for Judge of the Commonwealth Court.
Judge Jason Legg is also up for retention. If the “yes” vote wins, Legg will stay on. If not, another election for a new common pleas judge of the 34th judicial district must be held. For important dates, a full list of candidates and to view a sample ballot, visit https://www.susqco.com/departments/voter-registration.