Regional balloting in Tuesday’s Primary Election focused on the Republican race for the nomination in the 7th Congressional District. But voters in the Times News coverage area of Carbon, Schuylkill, Monroe, Lehigh and Northampton counties were also asked to vote for two other U.S. House of Representatives races, seven Pennsylvania House of Representatives positions and one Pennsylvania Senator spot.

In all but one case, there were no contests, as candidates accepted token votes in anticipation of General Election contests.

The only contested race was for the GOP nomination for the 183rd Legislative District seat, where Rep. Zach Mako of Lehigh Township was challenged by Slatington councilman Zach R. Halkias. Mako won by a sizable margin of 5,216 to 1,997. He will face Democrat Joseph W. Lenzi of Northampton in the Fall. He received 4,687 token votes from his party members yesterday.

Meanwhile, here is a look at the results of yesterday’s balloting in the regional uncontested races:

8th Congressional District

The district includes all of Lackawanna, Pike and Wayne counties and parts of Luzerne and Monroe counties, in the townships of Barrett, Chestnuthill, Coolbaugh, Hamilton, Jackson, Middle Smithfield, Paradise, Pocono, Price and parts of Ross.

Veteran Democratic congressman Matt A. Cartwright of Moosic received 58,297 complimentary votes and will face Republican challenger Robert P. Bresnahan Jr. of Dallas Township who received 42,234 token votes.

Cartwright has served in the U.S. House since January 2013. Bresnahan is a venture capitalist who founded RPB Ventures, a company that develops, rehabilitates, builds and markets properties.

9th Congressional District

The district includes all of Bradford, Columbia, Lebanon, Montour, Northumberland, Schuylkill, Sullivan and Wyoming counties and parts of Berks, Luzerne and Lycoming counties.

Republican Congressman Dan Meuser of Jackson Township received 77,452 token votes and will face Democratic challenger Amanda R. Waldman of Mill Creek Township in November. She received 34,254 votes.

This will be a rematch of the 2022 campaign in which Meuser won 209,185 to 92,622.

Meuser was first elected to congress in 2018 and previously served as the Secretary of Revenue in the cabinet of former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett. Waldman is a financial representative in the Medicare industry.

29th Senatorial

District

The district includes all of Carbon and Schuylkill counties, and parts of Luzerne County, including Bear Creek, Buck, Dennison, Foster and Hazle townships, the City of Hazleton and the boroughs of Bear Creek Village, Freeland, Jeddo, Penn Lake Park, West Hazleton and White Haven.

Republican Sen. David Argall of Lake Hauto received 22,192 complimentary votes and will face John Zugarek of White Haven in the fall. He had 11,874 token votes Tuesday.

Argall is seeking his fifth four-year term in the senate, having been first elected in a 2009 special election following the passing of Sen. James J. Rhoades.

Zugarek is a professor at Marywood University, Scranton, and a councilman in White Haven borough. He previously ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the state House of Representatives.

State House races

122nd District

State Rep. Doyle Heffley was one of six regional Republicans running for re-election to the state House of Representatives.

The Lower Towamensing Township resident received 6,302 complimentary votes yesterday.

There was no Democratic candidate.

Heffley is seeking his seventh two-year term of office, having initially been elected in the General Election of 2010, then succeeding Democratic Speaker of the House Keith R. McCall of Summit Hill, in serving the district, which includes all of Carbon County.

124th District

Rep. Jamie Barton of East Brunswick Township, a Republican, will face a familiar opponent in November as Democrat Tina M. Burns of Tamaqua is challenging him again. Barton collected 6,468 votes yesterday while Burns had 3,141.

Before being elected to office, Barton was an energy executive. Burns is a U.S. Coast Guard veteran whose career experience includes working as a health care consultant.

The district includes parts of Berks County, including the townships of Albany, Greenwich, Maxatawny, Tilden, Upper Bern, Upper Tulpehocken and Windsor and the boroughs of Hamburg, Kutztown and Lenhartsville, and parts of Schuylkill County, including the townships of Delano, East Brunswick, Rush, Ryan, Schuylkill, South Manheim, Walker, West Brunswick and West Penn, and the boroughs of Auburn, Coaldale, Deer Lake, Landingville, New Ringgold, Orwigsburg, Port Clinton and Tamaqua.

176th District

Republican Rep. Jack Rader of Jackson Township has represented the district since 2015. He tallied 4,234 votes yesterday. His November opponent will be Democrat Hope Christman, the same one he faced in 2022. In that election, Christman tallied 3,351 “comp” votes yesterday.

Christman, a hospice social worker, is running again and is unopposed on the Democratic ballot.

The district includes parts of Monroe County, including the townships of Chestnuthill, Eldred, Hamilton, Jackson, Polk, Ross, Tobyhanna and Tunkhannock.

187th District

In 2022, because redistricting put them in the same district, Republicans Ryan Mackenzie and Gary W. Day of Heidelberg Township ended up running against each other after the redistricting put Mackenzie in the district, as opposed to the 134th District he was representing. Mackenzie won the nomination, defeating Day by a margin and was unopposed in the General Election, winning the seat.

Tuesday, however, Mackenzie won the GOP nomination for the 7th Congressional District while Day was unopposed in the legislative district GOP balloting, where he received 6,607 votes.

He will face Democrat Stefanie Rafes of Lower Macungie Township, who was also unopposed and who collected 4,827 token votes.

Before his life in public office, Day was the director of marketing and human resources for Service Electric Cablevision and the executive assistant to the Allentown mayor. Rafes is a physician assistant.

The district includes parts of Lehigh County, including the townships of Heidelberg, Lower Macungie, Lynn, Upper Macungie (part, Districts 3, 7 and 8), Washington and Weisenberg, and the boroughs of Alburtis and Macungie.

116th District

A November race will take place in the 116th District, where the incumbent, Republican Dane Watro of Kline Township will face Democratic challenger Deborah L. Adoff of East Union Township.

Watro received 3,502 votes yesterday while Adoff tallied 1,887.

Watro, a U.S. Army veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom and the former mayor of McAdoo Borough, defeated Democrat Yesenia Rodriguez in 2022 to win his first two year term of office. Adoff is a retired court stenographer.

The district includes parts of Luzerne County, including the City of Hazleton, the Township of Hazle and the Borough of West Hazleton, and parts of Schuylkill County, including the townships of East Union, Kline, Mahanoy, North Union and Union, and the boroughs of Mahanoy City, McAdoo, Ringtown and Shenandoah.

123rd District

Rep. Tim Twardzik of Butler Township, who first won a seat in the House in the 2020 election, was also unopposed within his party and collected 5,437 token votes from the Republicans. He will face Democrat Michael Zvalaren III of Wayne Township in November.

Before his first election victory, Twardzik retired as the executive vice president and co-owner of Ateeco Inc - Mrs. T’s Pierogies, Shenandoah, where he helped grow the business founded by his father, Ted, into the community’s leading employer. Zvalaren is an adjunct professor at the College of New Jersey, and is a kitchen designer.

The district includes parts of Schuylkill County, including Pottsville, the townships of Blythe, Branch, Butler, Cass, East Norwegian, New Castle, North Manheim, Norwegian, Wayne and West Mahanoy, and Ashland (Schuylkill County portion), Cressona, Frackville, Gilberton, Girardville, Gordon, Mechanicsville, Middleport, Minersville, Mount Carbon, New Philadelphia, Palo Alto, Port Carbon, Schuylkill Haven and Saint Clair.