EASTON, Pa. — Northampton County Council President Kerry Myers won't appear on the November ballot after failing to secure enough write-in votes in Tuesday's primary, county election officials said.
Myers gained 197 votes in the Republican primary for Northampton County Council's District II seat, according to unofficial results released Monday evening by county election officials.
While that made him the leading vote getter in the race, it left him 53 votes short of the total he needed to qualify for the ballot, Chief Registrar Christopher Commini said through a spokesperson.
Neither Myers nor Northampton County Republican Committee Chairman Glenn Geissinger immediately responded to a phone call seeking comment Tuesday morning.
- Northampton County Council President Kerry Myers missed the Republican nomination for Northampton County Council District II by 53 votes
- Myers switched parties to mount a write-in campaign after being booted off the Democratic primary ballot
- Republican William Rowe earned enough write-in votes to make the November ballot in the District I race
The result likely leaves Forks Township Supervisor Kelly Keegan, a Democrat, as the only candidate to appear on the November ballot.
Keegan mounted a write-in campaign of her own for the Republican nomination but gained only 34 votes.
Myers, who in January became the first Black person in county history to serve as council president, was booted off the Democratic primary this spring.
Keegan's husband challenged the validity of 110 of the 310 signatures Myers gathered, successfully arguing they were not registered Democratic voters who lived in the region.
As in his Republican write-in campaign, Myers needed 250 signatures to qualify for the Democratic primary.
Switching parties
In late April, Myers announced he had switched parties and would seek the nomination as a write-in candidate.
He was quickly welcomed into the fold by leadership of the Northampton County Republican Committee, who viewed him as one of their strongest candidates for the Easton area district in years.
Myers had previously served on the Easton Area School Board and was well known in the community from his decades as a youth sports coach.
While the 197 write in votes made Myers the leading vote getter in the race, it left him 53 votes short of the total he needed to qualify for the ballot.Northampton County Chief Registrar Christopher Commini
Myers' party switch was fueled in part by a grudge against County Executive Lamont McClure, whom Myers accused of trying to push him out of office. The two have sparred over the sheriff and awarding a tax incentive to develop an industrial property in Upper Mount Bethel Township.
The other write-in candidate for Northampton County Council had better results. More than 320 Republican voters wrote in William Rowe for Northampton County Council's District I seat.
Rowe was kicked off the Republican primary for a technical violation of his paperwork but will now advance to the November election. He'll go on to face Ken Kraft, a McClure ally who previously served as council president.
District I represents the Bethlehem area, which heavily favors Democratic candidates.
