In the three municipalities within the Jim Thorpe region - Jim Thorpe Borough and Penn Forest and Kidder townships - there will only be one contested race in the 2021 general election to be held on Nov. 2.

That will be in the borough council balloting in the borough where seven candidates are seeking to win four four-year terms that will be determined by the voters.

Otherwise, neither Penn Forest nor Kidder townships have challenges on their respective ballots.

Jim Thorpe Borough

Seeking the borough council positions are four Democratic candidates, including Thomas Highland, Joanne Klitsch, Michael D. Rivkin and Dennis J. McGinley Jr., and three Republicans, Gregory Strubinger, Mary Shorten and Jessica Crowley. Klitsch was successful in winning a GOP nomination in May via the write-in process and is the only one of the seven candidates to appear on both ballots.

Michael J. Sofranko is running again for the four-year term as mayor and is unopposed, as he won both the Democratic and Republican nominations in the primary election.

That is the same situation for Patricia Spillman and James McHugh, who are running for the four-year term as tax collector and the six-year term as constable, respectively, as they too are without opposition and are running on both tickets.

Five other candidates in the borough are all unopposed in seeking election district positions, which are four-year terms. They are Adell Rosick, who is seeking the Republican inspector of elections post in District 1; Karen Lauth, a Republican running for judge of elections in District 3; Lisa Marie Lauth, a Republican seeking the inspector of elections position in District 3; Doren S. Perdie, a GOP member aspiring to the inspector of elections job in District 4; and Edith Crossin, a Democrat running for the judge of elections post in District 5.

No one is running for judge of elections positions in districts 1 and 2, nor Democratic inspector of elections posts in all five districts in the borough.

Kidder Township

The voters in Kidder will elect two people to serve six-year terms on the township’s board of supervisors. There are only two candidates for the posts, including Bruce Berger, who will appear on the ballot as both a Democratic and Republican candidate, and Republican Wilson D. Klotzman Jr.

Also unopposed in Kidder are Republican Raymond M. Gluck, who is seeking the four-year term on the board; Kim M. Ginopolas, who appears on both ballots for the four-year term as tax collector; Republican Lois J. Hammer, who is seeking the four-year term as judge of elections in the North District; and Norma J. Wiegand, who is seeking the four-year term as GOP inspector of elections in the North District.

No one is running for the six-year term as constable nor the four-year term as judge of elections in Kidder South or the four-year terms as Democratic and Republican inspectors of elections in the South District.

Penn Forest Township

The municipal balloting situation in Penn Forest Township mirrors that of Kidder Township, as two candidates for six-year terms on the township’s board of supervisors, as well as one for the four-year term as tax collector, are all unopposed.

Seeking the supervisors’ posts are Roger L. Meckes and Patrick Holland, who both appear on both the Democratic and Republican ballots.

Josiah Behrens III is also poised to win the four-year term as tax collector, being on both ballots as well.

Anton Leppler, a Republican, is the lone candidate for the six-year term as constable while no one is running for two auditor’s positions, for six- and two-year terms.

For poll positions, five candidates in the respective districts are unopposed for four-year terms as either judges or inspectors of elections, including: Republican Elizabeth Ramsey, seeking the judge of elections post in the North/West District; Republican Andrew Ramsey, running for the Republican inspector of elections post in the North/West District; Democrat Robert F. Steiger, seeking the judge of elections position in the Middle District; Democrat George Hollingsworth, who aspires to the judge of elections post in the North/East District; and Republican Dolores C. Cosgrove, seeking the GOP inspector of elections job in the North/East District.

There are no candidates in Penn Forest for judges of election positions in the South/West or East districts, nor Democratic and Republican inspectors of elections posts in the South/West, Middle and East districts or Democratic inspector of positions in the North/West and North/East districts.

Magisterial district

Magisterial District Judge Joseph D. Homanko Sr. is seeking re-election to a six-year term in District 56-3-04 and is unopposed, having won both the Democratic and Republican nominations in May. The district includes Kidder Township, as well as Beaver Meadows, East Side and Weatherly boroughs and Banks, Lausanne, Lehigh and Packer townships.

Other choices

Voters in the Jim Thorpe area of the county will fill positions and/or make choices in several other election matters, including: retention votes of “yes” or “no” for President Judge Roger N. Nanovic and Judge Joseph J. Matika for 10-year terms on the Carbon County Court of Common Pleas; challenged races for 10-year terms as Justice of the Supreme Court and judges of the Superior and Commonwealth courts (two terms) of Pennsylvania; and challenged county races for four-year terms as treasurer and clerk of courts.

There are no contests for the county register of wills/clerk of the orphans’ court race, nor the balloting for positions on the Jim Thorpe (voters in Jim Thorpe Borough, Penn Forest Township and Kidder Township South) and Weatherly (Kidder North) school districts boards of education, as candidates who appear the ballots for those races are all unopposed.

Jean Papay is unopposed for the register’s post, a four-year term, having won both the Democratic and Republican nominations in May, while four candidates are cross-filed for the four four-year terms on the Jim Thorpe Board. They include Dennis J. McGinley Jr., Glenn E. Confer Sr., Richard Flacco and Jerry Strubinger.

Likewise, four candidates for four four-year terms on the Weatherly board are also cross-filed. They include Barbara Sipler, Shay McGee, Kenneth Jacoby III and Nancy Mulvaney.