- Tara Zrinski has served on county council since 2018
- She faced fellow council member John Cusick in the controller's race
- She led by more than 6,000 votes early Wednesday with ballots still to be counted
EASTON, Pa. — Tara Zrinski appears headed for a new office in the Northampton County Government Center.
With votes still to be counted, the county council member was leading by a 6,000-vote margin in the race for Northampton County controller.
Zrinski, 48, of Hanover Township, has served on council since 2018 but decided to run for controller this year against another council member, John Cusick.
With all of the mail-in ballots and votes from polling places counted by early Wednesday, Zrinski had 36,809 votes to Cusick's 30,717, according to unofficial county election returns.
Those numbers don't include provisional ballots cast because of problems with voting machines Tuesday morning. A complete count likely won't be finished until later in the week.
The controller is “responsible for the internal control of the fiscal transactions of” the county, as the home rule charter puts it, with the power to conduct audits scrutinizing the use of county funds.
In July, county council appointed Scott Parsons to serve as controller following the death of Richard "Bucky" Szulborski.
Zrinski apparently will take the reins of the office in January. The controller’s chief responsibility is administrative: managing the controller’s office and its small staff of auditors.
She also teaches philosophy at DeSales University, and works as a consultant selling home solar energy systems.
She ran for a state Senate seat last year, losing the 14th District Democratic primary by fewer than 50 votes. In 2020, she mounted an unsuccessful campaign for the 138th District state House seat.
Cusick, of Williams Township, has served 16 years on council but decided this would be his last year so he could run for controller.
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