Two incumbents and two newcomers appeared to win a tight race for four seats on Greater Latrobe School Board, according to unofficial results of Tuesday’s voting.
With all 20 precincts reporting, Merle D. Musick led the polling, with about 13.7% of the vote, followed by Yelayna Rossi with 13.3%, Andrew Repko with 12.8% and Patrick Carney with 12.78%.
Heidi Kozar, Rhonda Laughlin, Joshua Cunningham and Thomas Long trailed, with respective vote shares of about 12.6%, 12.3%, 11.5% and 10.9%.
Six of the candidates were divided between two campaign camps.
Musick, a single-term incumbent, joined forces with newcomers Rossi and Carney. Their campaign brought together two recent college graduates in their 20s with Carney, a 61-year-old machinist who previously ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the board.
Literature mailed to voters presented the three Republican nominees from Unity as conservative candidates, touting “strong leadership; sound informed decisions; proven fiscal responsibility; student/parent focused.”
Musick — not to be confused with his father and fellow Greater Latrobe board member Merle L. Musick — is a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserve. Rossi is a director of corporate services.
Three other incumbent board members crossed party lines for an alternate campaign. Longtime school directors and Democratic nominees Kozar and Laughlin were aligned with Republican nominee Repko, who was seeking his second term.
Laughlin, 58, of Latrobe is an optometrist. Kozar, 66, and Repko, 62, both reside in Unity. She owns a small business; he is a school bus driver trainer and retired state corrections major of the guard.
The trio acknowledged they don’t agree on all school matters but indicated they’ve found common ground.
Their campaign cited attributes of “experience, integrity and common sense” while indicating one of their shared goals is keeping taxes low.
Remaining Democratic nominees Joshua Cunningham and Thomas Long ran individually.
Cunningham, 46, of Unity has worked as an educator for 23 years, serving for most of that time at Indiana County’s River Valley School District.
He said he would like to see school maintenance and some academic programs receive more attention.
Long, 62, of Latrobe is a longtime member of the Greater Latrobe Parks and Recreation Commission. Sales team leader for Inco Beverage, he is the former vice president and general manager of Greensburg Beverage.
He said he wants to see school officials all “rowing in the same direction.”
