Three Pennsylvania Senate seats in the Times News area are to be filled this year, with a race for only one nomination in Tuesday’s primary election.

That was in the Democratic race of the 16th District, where Mark Pinsley, the Lehigh County controller, was a winner over Bradley Merkl-Gump, a teacher in the Perkiomen Valley School District, by a margin of 11,818 to 10,152. The 16th District includes parts of Bucks County and parts of Lehigh County, including Heidelberg, Lowhill, Lynn, Washington and Weisenberg townships and the Borough of Slatington.

Pinsley’s win sets a date with incumbent Republican Sen. Jarrett Coleman, who was unopposed Tuesday and received 16,696 token votes.

In the Lehigh County voting, Pinsley tallied 9,032 votes, compared to the 3,308 that Merkl-Gump received.

14th District

In the 14th Senatorial District there were no contests in the primary.

Democratic incumbent Sen. Nick Miller collected 18,307 token votes, while his November opponent, Republican Omy Maldonado, a Marine Corps veteran who works as a technology consultant, tallied 8,523 complimentary votes.

The district is made up of parts of Lehigh and Northampton counties. The Lehigh area consists of the City of Allentown (parts, wards 1-12, 14-17 and 19); the townships of Hanover, Salisbury, South Whitehall (parts, districts 1, 2, 4, 5 and 7) and Whitehall; and the boroughs of Catasauqua, Coplay, Emmaus and Fountain Hill. The Northampton area consists of the townships of Allen, Bushkill, East Allen, Hanover, Lehigh and Moore; and the boroughs of Bath, Chapman, North Catasauqua, Northampton and Walnutport.

In the Lehigh County balloting, Miller had 11,792 votes, compared to Maldonado’s 4,230. In Northampton County, Miller tallied 6,515, while Maldonado netted 4,293.

40th District

Both the Republican and Democratic candidates for the 40th District were also unopposed Tuesday, setting up a head-to-head contest in November.

Incumbent GOP Sen. Rosemary Brown collected 12,250 token votes. Her upcoming challenger, Democrat Brian Wrightson, a former union book binder and member of the Graphic Arts International Union Local 97B, had 18,089 complimentary votes.

The district consists of all of Monroe County and parts of Lackawanna and Wayne counties. In the Monroe balloting, Brown netted 7,296 votes, while Wrightson had 10,451 votes.

A state senator receives a salary of $113,575, and is paid a stipend of $198 for each day he or she is in Harrisburg.