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Wednesday, May 21, 2003

By Janice Crompton, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

In a bitter battle over the Democratic nomination for Washington County commissioner, the team of incumbent Commissioner J. Bracken Burns, 58, of South Strabane, and county Sheriff Larry Maggi, 52, of Buffalo, were pulling out a win over Democratic Commissioner John P. Bevec.

	More Primary 2003 Click to visit Washington County's election site for detailed unofficial voting results. Tables with primary results for Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Greene and Washington counties will be published in Thursday print editions of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Maggi was running first, Burns second and Bevec a distant third.

Burns and Maggi, a popular officeholder and former state police homicide investigator, joined forces for this election after Burns spent three years feuding with Bevec, his 1999 running mate. Bevec, 40, of Canonsburg, did not select a running mate, although he won the support of Gov. Ed Rendell, who helped him raise a record $150,000 during a day of campaign appearances earlier this year.

This year's race turned into a name-calling grudge match because Bevec and Republican Commissioner Diana Irey joined forces in 2000 to strip Burns of his chairmanship and fire some of his favorite department heads, rendering him virtually powerless.

The trend continued in the ensuing years, with Burns as the odd man out in several key votes and more high profile firings by Bevec and Irey.

"This is what we've worked for for 3 1/2years, so it's pretty exciting," Burns said last night after hearing of the election results. "The county has stagnated," Burns said, because of a lack of cooperation and teamwork in the commissioner's office.

Irey, 40, of Carroll, was uncontested for the Republican nomination, along with her running mate Louis Waller Sr., 74, of South Strabane. Voters chose two candidates from each party to compete for the three open slots in the November general election.

In a hotly contested race for Common Pleas Court judge, Mark Mascara, 46, of East Washington, scraped out a victory over challengers Colin Fitch, 42, of South Strabane, and Chuck Korowski, 50, of Canton, for the Democratic nomination. The Republican nomination went to Fitch in unofficial returns. Candidates for judge were eligible to cross-file for the Democratic and Republican nomination, and each did so.

In the race for district attorney, incumbent Democrat John C. Pettit, 67, of Canton, defeated challenger Dennis M. Makel, 47, of South Strabane.

County Jury Commissioner Judith Fisher, 64, of South Strabane, upset incumbent Phyllis Ranko-Matheny, 62, of North Strabane, for the Democratic nomination for prothonotary.