WAYNE and PIKE COUNTIES — While the results are still unofficial, the results of most of the municipal primary races of Tuesday, May 20 can be preliminarily determined. 

In some cases, the primary results set up for a contested race in general election. In others, the primary results leave only one candidate to run uncontested in November. 

Wayne County

The position of Wayne County Magisterial District Judge for District 2 saw two contenders in the primary election: attorney Jessica Ellis and former state trooper Wayne Thomas. District 2 includes Honesdale, Waymart and Prompton Boroughs; and Canaan, South Canaan, Cherry Ridge and Texas Townships.

Ellis won both the Republican and Democratic nominations, taking the Democratic nomination by 526 votes to 198, and the Republican nomination by 1077 votes to 561. 

"This victory belongs to all of you—our supporters, volunteers, friends and neighbors—who believed in Jess and shared our vision for a fair, compassionate and community-focused judiciary," wrote the Jess for Judge campaign. "Jess is ready to get to work—serving with integrity, empathy and a deep respect for the law and the people of Wayne County."

The primary race for Honesdale Borough Mayor has resulted in what may be a three-way race in November. Borough councilor Jim Hamill took the Democratic nomination with 150 votes to 109 write-in votes, while incumbent mayor Derek Williams has expressed his intention to run as an independent candidate. 

While no candidate was on the ballot for the Republican nomination for mayor, 131 write-in votes were cast. According to Wayne County Bureau of Elections Director Amy Christopher, the office can't start counting write-in votes until Friday, and won't have any information on who the write-in candidates were until next week. However, community figure Mike Falco may be one name to watch; he launched a write-in campaign several days prior to the election. 

For school districts, Brendan Murray and James McHugh won out in both the Republican and Democratic primaries for the two seats on the Wayne Highlands school board, beating out Robert Schwartz. Melissa Erdmann narrowly edged out Joshua Faatz, with 36 votes to 25, for a position on the Forest City Regional school board. 

In Canaan Township, Linda Davis beat out Leah Zawisky for the Republican nomination for tax collector. 

In Cherry Ridge Township, incumbent Marcus Lienert beat out challenger Jasper Bianchi for the Republican nomination for supervisor. 

In Dreher Township, Edward Holewa beat out Rebecca Keiper for the Republican nomination for supervisor, by 61 votes to 56. 

In Dyberry Township, Dan Nebzydoski beat out Lynne Glinsky Goodwin for the Republican nomination for tax collector. 

In Preston Township, Kathleen Seifried beat out Suzanne Wormuth for the Republican nomination for tax collector. 

Pike County

The position of Magisterial District Judge for District 4 saw incumbent Paul Menditto challenged by Christina Ballas. Ballas took both the Democratic and the Republican nominations for the position. 

Of the six candidates running for four open seats on the Delaware Valley School District board—Jessica Adler Decker, Pam Lutfy, Joseph Kuemerle, Dorit Smith, Felicia Sheehan and Mandy Colville—only Colville failed to get either the Democratic or the Republican nomination, and will not advance to the general election. 

Of the six candidates running for four open seats on the East Stroudsburg School District board—George C. Andrews, Steve Ertle, Shaneka Storey, Wayne Rohner, Jason A. Gullstrand and Richard Schlameuss—all advanced to the general, either on the Democratic or the Republican ticket. 

The Lackawaxen race for the Republican nomination for Supervisor ended with incumbent Michael Mancino fending off challenger Ray Fennell, with Mancino taking 324 votes to Fennell's 120. 

In Delaware Township, Steven Tarquini won the Republican nomination for supervisor over Rick Koehler. Yvonne Teta won the Republican nomination for tax collector over Liberty Buccello. 

In Dingman Township, James Leiser won the Republican nomination for tax collector over Bob Roche. 

In Matamoras Borough, four seats are open for borough council. Michael J. Mady, Jr., Mark J. Toussaint and Dayne Losee all appear on the Democratic ballot. On the Republican ballot, Jonathan Maney, Harry Prey, John Bush Jr. and Kyle Innella will go on to to the general election; Pamela Conklin took fifth in the primary race. 

In Porter Township, Robert O'Neill edged out William Powell for the Republican nomination for supervisor, with 26 votes to 25. 

In Shohola Township, Juli Fuhse beat Krystal Spinetta and Christine Buttaro for the Republican nomination for tax collector. 

In Westfall Township, J. Bernard Swartwood III and Peter Joannou beat out Paul Schaldonat for the Republican nomination for two open seats on the board of supervisors. 

Statewide races

The Republican primary for Commonwealth Court saw Matthew Wolford beat Joshua Prince for the nomination; Wolford will face Democrat Stella Tsai in the general election. 

The Republican primary for Superior Court saw Maria Battista beat Ann Marie Wheatcraft for the nomination; Battista will face Democrat Brandon P. Neuman in the general election. 

For more on these statewide races from SpotlightPA, click here.