Lancaster County voters, seeking an end to four years of courthouse rancor, ousted the only commissioner seeking re-election Tuesday, and elected a clean slate to take office in January.

They also booted the coroner, Dr. G. Gary Kirchner, after a term marked by errors — he once imposed a $500 fine on himself for every future gaffe — and several highly publicized clashes with the county's top prosecutors.

The election results clearly show that voters were fed up with seemingly endless feuding in county government, party leaders and political analysts said today.

"This is a rejection of the last four years of leadership," said G. Terry Madonna, a political analyst at Franklin & Marshall College and former county commissioner here. "You hate to say that because you don't want to hurt anybody's feelings, but politics is a contact sport. You're going to get bumped around.

"This is a classic, change-oriented election in which the voters were saying they want to move on from the past four years and they want a clean slate," said Madonna, the director of F&M's Center for Politics and Public Affairs.

In the most high-profile race, that for county commissioner, voters chose the Republican-endorsed team of Scott Martin and Dennis Stuckey, and picked Democrat Craig Lehman over the lone incumbent, Democrat Molly Henderson, for the third seat on the board, historically held by a member of the minority party here.

Martin, a former director of the county's Youth Intervention Center, was the top vote-getter with about 29 percent. Stuckey, the county controller, came in second with about 27 percent. Lehman, the city controller, came in third with about 19 percent.

Henderson finished fourth with only 13 percent, and independent Jere Swarr, a Rapho Township supervisor and businessman, came in last, getting fewer than 11 percent of the votes.

By substantial margins, countywide voters also elected six new judges — all members of the Republican team endorsed by the local GOP in the primary and general elections — and chose the party's candidates for courthouse row offices and most local and school board races.

Democrats, meantime, retained their majorities on council in Lancaster City, where they hold all seven seats, and in Columbia Borough, and they took over the majority on Marietta Borough Council.

Fewer than one in three registered voters went to the polls on Tuesday. In all, about 29 percent or nearly 88,000 of the county's 303,184 registered voters cast ballots, said Mary Stehman, the registrar of elections here. That's less than 24 percent of the county's voting-age population.

Democratic Party Chairman Bruce Beardsley said Lehman deserved to win the commissioners race, but that Henderson suffered — unjustly — after being swept into controversies sparked by her fellow Republican board members.

"I think Molly, early in her term, made mistakes. She acknowledges she didn't blow the whistle on the secret Conestoga View (nursing home) sale, and also by going along with her Republican colleagues on some hiring decisions, she basically allowed even the print media to paint all three commissioners with the same brush," Beardsley said.

"Craig ran a very effective, high-class, issues-oriented campaign. That resounded with voters throughout the county, and he deserved to win," Beardsley added. "He's highly qualified."

Henderson and Republican Dick Shellenberger are the remaining members of a board that has been caught up in repeated controversies since taking office in 2004 — over the convention center project and the decision to sell the county nursing home. The three pleaded guilty in December to meeting in secret before selling the facility.

Shellenberger did not seek re-election, and former Commissioner Pete Shaub, a Republican, resigned from the board in February.

The results are:

Martin ... 37,490

Stuckey ... 35,149

Lehman ... 24,916

Henderson ... 16,872

Swarr ... 13,768

In the race for coroner, the most high-profile of the row-office contests, the Republican-endorsed candidate, Dr. Steve G. Diamantoni, easily beat back a write-in campaign by Kirchner, though the official tally won't be known until the votes for Kirchner are counted later this week.

Diamantoni got 43,318 votes, 25,349 more than the Democrat in the race, David Rittenhouse. And because there were only 12,000 write-in votes cast for all races countywide, Stehman said, Diamantoni is the clear winner.

The family practitioner campaigned on a pledge to work well with local police and prosecutors, a contrast to what many saw as a poor working relationship between the current coroner and law enforcement.

"I'm deeply appreciative that the voters supported my candidacy and I worked hard to deliver on my promises to work well with law enforcement, the district attorney's office, funeral directors and the general public," Diamantoni said.

Diamantoni, a former Lancaster City Council president, is a physician and city business owner. He said his new duties as coroner should not affect his medical practice because it has 15 "very capable associates," should he be called off to a death scene.

The results are:

Diamantoni ... 43,318

Rittenhouse ... 17,969

In the 11-way contest for county judge, voters overwhelmingly elected the team of six attorneys endorsed by the Republican Party. District Attorney Donald R. Totaro was by far the top vote-getter, leading the field by 13,483 votes.

Elected to the five other open seats on the Court of Common Pleas are Margaret C. Miller; Christopher A. Hackman; Howard F. Knisely; Jeffrey J. Reich and Jeffery D. Wright. They beat two other Republicans, Heidi F. Eakin and Lucy Longo, and three Democrats, Samuel M. Mecum, Steve Cody and Katherine B. Kravitz.

The six seats were on Tuesday's ballot because four judges — Paul K. Allison, Wayne G. Hummer, Michael Georgelis and Michael Perezous — are retiring, and two new seats have been created by the state Legislature.

The results are:

Totaro ... 51,124

Miller ... 37,641

Hackman ... 37,207

Knisely ... 37,134

Reich ... 36,816

Wright ... 36,622

Mecum ... 23,857

Eakin ... 21,494

Cody ... 20,019

Kravitz ... 19,054

Longo ... 17,592

In other, lower-profile courthouse row-office races, Prothonotary Randall O. Wenger, a Republican, had little trouble beating Democratic challenger Richard A. Webb.

The results are:

Wenger ... 43,301

Webb ... 20,356

For register of wills, Republican Mary Ann Gerber handily won over the Constitution Party candidate, Fritz Schrom.

The results are:

Gerber ... 48,100

Schrom ... 7,718

And for sheriff, incumbent Republican Terry A. Bergman easily won over his Democratic opponent, Luis A. Rodriguez.

The results are:

Bergman ... 43,091

Rodriguez ... 22,668

Republicans in three other row-office elections were unchallenged. Ryan P. Aument will be the next clerk of courts; Craig Stedman will be the next district attorney; and incumbent Craig A. Ebersole will remain treasurer.

In Lancaster City, Democrats held onto the three seats on Tuesday's ballot, keeping complete control of the seven-member council. Voters chose Pat Coller, Joe Morales and Nelson Polite Sr. over three Republicans who sought to give the GOP a voice on the board.

The results are:

Polite ... 3,173

Morales ... 3,132

Coller ... 3,044

Harrison ... 2,054

Reynolds ... 1,915

Campbell ... 1,906

In the only contest for magisterial district judge in the county, Democrat Janice Jimenez, a police officer in Millersville, won the seat in Lancaster City's 2nd and 6th wards. The seat is now held by Richard H. Simms, a retired district judge who stepped in to fill the unexpired term of Richard Musser.

The results are:

Jimenez ... 803

Branner ... 719

In Manheim, Republican Tom Fee was unopposed for a district judge seat.

County voters also retained Court of Common Pleas Judge Leslie Gorbey for another 10-year term.

The results are:

Yes ... 32,888

No ... 22,088

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