Politics & Government
Gilman and Turturice to Face Off in General Election
Field of four candidates was pared to just two Tuesday night.
Lane Turturice and Gary Gilman will face each other in the race for Washington County Court of Common Pleas judge come November.
With 99 percent of the vote counted, unofficial results from Tuesday’s primary election showed Turturice won the Republican nomination, while Gilman captured the Democratic nomination.
Results posted by Washington County Elections Office showed Turturice received 31.8 percent of the vote, while Gilman received the second-most votes on the Republican side with 29.8 percent. Melograne finished third on the Republican ballot with 20.4 percent of the vote. Kurowski finished last, with 17.6 percent.
Gilman took the Democrat nomination with 37.9 percent of the vote. Judge Phillippe Melograne pulled the second-highest vote getter with 22.8 percent. Kurowski finished third, with Turturice finishing last on the Democrat side.
“It’s an exhilarating feeling in my first-ever entry into a countywide race," Turturice said. “I really reached out to the people of Washington County, but as I said in the beginning, God get the glory for this win. There were so many people involved in the campaign, and it was a total grassroots effort on the part of so many ordinary people.”
Turturice awaited election results in his South Strabane home with his family and campaigners, including Republican County commissioner candidate William Northrop.
“It was truly a David-and-Goliath campaign in that our opponents outspent us in some cases five to one, and we proved that you don’t need to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to win an election. We did it with the hearts of the people,” Turturice said.
Gilman gathered with family and supporters at a small party and watched the results on a large computer screen.
“I feel elated and excited, I feel like I’m on cloud nine right now,” Gilman said after he was assured of winning the Democrat nomination. “The high point of the campaign was going out and meeting as many voters as possible. I really enjoyed that. This county is filled with nothing but friendly and congenial people. I think that was a critical part of the campaign.”
Turturice and Gilman defeated Melograne, a judge who was appointed to the bench in October to fill the vacancy created by the death of Mark Mascara.
For full (unofficial) county results click .
