Lowell Fry and Jere Swarr, both of whom are Rapho Township supervisors and farmers, won Republican Party straw polls for county commissioner on their home turf Wednesday night.
Fry and Swarr edged out Lancaster County Controller Dennis Stuckey and Youth Intervention Center Director Scott Martin in the nonbinding polls, taken by rank-and-file GOP members in west and northwest parts of the county.
County Register of Wills Donna Reinaker and former Lancaster Mayor Charlie Smithgall again fared poorly, and trail the four top contenders by a wide margin less than two weeks before the countywide GOP meets to endorse candidates for two seats.
Martin and Stuckey lead the six-way race for party backing, but neither has come close to securing a two-thirds majority necessary for endorsement. The leader, Martin, has won only 27 percent of the votes taken by 12 of the GOP's 17 area committees.
"It's going to be tough for anybody to get two-thirds before the convention," Swarr said today.
Wednesday's straw polls were taken by members of the GOP's Columbia, Donegal, Elizabethtown and Manheim Central committees. Fry and Swarr each won 22 of the 99 votes cast. Stuckey got 21, Martin got 20, Reinaker got 13 and Smithgall got only 1.
In the race for county coroner, former City Councilman Dr. Stephen Diamantoni beat incumbent Dr. G. Gary Kirchner, 35-14; Diamantoni holds an overwhelming lead over Kirchner so far.
Straw polls are being taken by rank-and-file Republicans in each of the GOP's 17 area committees, which are organized by school district. The polls are being conducted through Feb. 8 in the races for judge, county commissioner and row offices.
The polls are designed to test the strength of candidates prior to the Republican County Convention, which is being held Feb. 13. The GOP will try to endorse two candidates for the county's three-member board of commissioners.
Voters in the May 15 primary will have the final say, when registered Republicans and Democrats select their parties' candidates to appear on the November ballot.
Voters of each party can nominate only two candidates for commissioner in the primary. The law limits each party to two nominees so that no party can win all three commissioner seats in the general election.
County Democrats do not conduct straw polls, but three candidates are seeking to win the party's endorsement at its Feb. 17 convention.
The candidates are incumbent County Commissioner Molly Henderson, City Controller Craig Lehman, who is a budget analyst for the state House, and Charles Groff, an accountant from Mount Joy.
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