Incumbent Petillo Wins Nod to Run for Mayor

No surprises here.

Sylvia Petillo grabbed the Republican mayoral nomination while John Young and Estelle Klein got GOP nods for council spots in Tuesday's primary elections. Each was unopposed.

Petillo's four-year mayor seat and the three-year council positions of Young and Democrat Madeline McManus will expire in December.

No Democrats filed for the primaries, which set the stage for the Nov. 8 general elections. Those will be uncontested, too, barring a write-in candidacy. No independent candidates filed nominations to run in the general election by Tuesday's 4 p.m. deadline.

Petillo, a first-term incumbent, nabbed 240 votes; Young, also a first-term incumbent, received 244; and Klein, who served from 2003 to 2008, got 225, according to unofficial results. Write-ins and provisional ballots weren't included.

Petillo and Young celebrated with supporters at the Republican headquarters at the Farmstead Golf & Country Club. Klein didn't attend.

Petillo said the low turnout was due to the uncontested race.

"That happens every so often," she said. "There wasn't an opportunity to come out and make a choice."

Petillo defeated John Armeno in the borough's last Republican mayoral primary. Then she beat independent Jim O'Brien in the general election. She said she can't remember running in an uncontested election.

"It's interesting to me when it's an uncontested race," she said. "But I understand why. People just don't have the time and it takes a tremendous amount of time to just be mayor. I'm grateful that I don't have to have a difficult race. It's nice to continue with the plans and the vision I started four years ago. And I appreciate having the support of the people."

Young said he was glad to move onto November.

"An uncontested ballot may not be a victory in the truest sense," he said. "But I am ever grateful for the opportunity to serve my town and to keep it moving forward in a positive way."