There are two challenged races in the seven municipalities in Northern Carbon County in the primary election to be held on May 18.

The races exist in Banks Township, where two people are seeking the Democratic nomination for the six-year term on the board of supervisors, and in Beaver Meadows Borough, where the Republican voters will decide the nomination for a four-year term as inspector of elections.

Otherwise, in Lausanne, Lehigh and Packer townships and East Side and Weatherly boroughs, no contested races exist in the primary.

Banks Township

David Mazur and Rick Porpiglia are running against each other for the Democratic nomination for the seat on the board of supervisors. There is no Republican candidate.

Four other people appear on the Banks ballot and they are all Democrats who are uncontested. They include Marian Lockwood, seeking a four-year term as tax collector; David J. Bodnar Jr., six-year term as auditor; Bruce Knepper, six-year term as constable; and David J. Bodnar Sr., four-year term as judge of elections.

There is also a four-year term as inspector of elections to be determined this year. No one is running for the post on either ticket. There are no Republican candidates for any of the offices to be filled in Banks this year.

Beaver Meadows Borough

In Beaver Meadows, the race on the GOP side in Beaver Meadows is between Shirley Kessell and Judith Tranguch, who are both seeking the nomination for a four-year term as inspector of elections.

The town’s voters are also scheduled to elect a mayor, three council members, a tax collector and a judge of elections - all for four-year terms - for which there are no primary challenges.

In fact, no one is running for mayor nor the three council posts. Republican Mary Ellen Hines is seeking the tax collector’s job and John Tranguch Jr. is running for judge of elections.

East Side Borough

There are no contests in East Side Borough in the primary election, but there will be in November.

That’s because three Democrats and four Republicans are seeking four four-year terms on the borough council.

Unopposed this time around, but to go against each other in the fall, are Democrats John Marotta, Sharon Mrozinski and Elizabeth Berger and Republicans Joseph G. Lachette Jr., Louis A. Esa, Helen Jones and Michael Best.

The only other candidate on the East Side ballot is Republican Lisa Jones, who is seeking her party’s nomination for the four-year term as tax collector.

East Side voters are also scheduled to fill four other positions, for which there are no candidates. The offices are mayor, judge of elections and inspector of elections, all for four-year terms, and a six-year term as constable.

Lausanne Township

Only one candidate appears on the Lausanne Township ballots this time around. She is Carol Tulay, a Democrat running for her party’s nomination for a four-year term as tax collector.

Township voters are slated to fill six other positions in Lausanne this year, including one person for six-year terms on the board of supervisors, auditor and constable, and one person for four-year terms as auditor, judge of elections and inspector of elections.

Lehigh Township

There are two unopposed Republican candidates on the ballots in Lehigh Township.

Larry D. Skinner is seeking his party’s nomination for a six-year term on the board of supervisors, and Teresa Barna is aspiring to the nomination for the four-year term as tax collector.

Township voters are also scheduled to elect two auditors, one for a six-year term and the other for a two-year term, a constable for a six-year term and a judge of elections and an inspector of elections, both for four-year terms.

Packer Township

Three Republicans are the only ones who appear on the Packer Township ballots.

They include Sue Ann Gerhard, who is running for her party’s nomination for a six-year term on the board of supervisors; Valeria Kane, who is seeking the bid for a four-year term as tax collector; and Alicia Nyer, who is seeking the four-year term as judge of elections.

No one is running in the township for four other positions. They are a six-year and two-year as auditors, a six-year term as constable and a four-year term as inspector of elections.

Weatherly Borough

Five people are seeking four four-year terms on the Weatherly Borough Council and will meet in the general election since they are unopposed within their parties.

They include Democrats Leslie Moter and Theresa D’Andrea and Republicans Jeffery Miller, Vincent A. Cuddeford II and Norman B. Richie.

Deborah A. Kohler, a Republican, is unopposed in seeking her party’s nomination for the four-year term as tax collector.

Other unchallenged candidates are Democrat D’Andrea and Republican Virginia L. Houser, who are seeking four-year terms as inspectors of elections in the East Ward, and Republican Ruth Sabol, who is running for the four-year term as inspector of elections in the West Ward.

No one is running for the judge of elections positions in either the East or West wards, nor is anyone seeking the six-year term as constable in the borough.

Other races

Northern Carbon County voters will also participate in at-large balloting for several other positions that are on their ballot, including Justice of the Supreme Court, judges of the Superior and Commonwealth courts; county treasurer, clerk of courts and register of wills and clerk of the orphans’ court; magisterial district judge in District 56-3-04; and school board races in the Hazleton and Weatherly districts.

In the magisterial district race, Joseph D. Homanko Sr. appears on both ballots and is uncontested in his bid for a six-year term. The district encompasses Beaver Meadows, East Side and Weatherly boroughs and Banks, Kidder, Lausanne, Lehigh and Packer townships.

Voters in Banks Township and Beaver Meadows Borough will also participate in the Hazleton School Board race, while voters in Lausanne, Lehigh and Packer townships and East Side and Weatherly boroughs will take part in the Weatherly School Board race, as do the voters in Kidder Township’s South District. Information on the school board races will appear elsewhere in the Times News.