Court beats Chiappetta; DeCarbo tops council votes
May 20, 2009
ECO Staff – Laure Cioffi, senior journalist
ELLWOOD CITY – It was a landslide victory for Tony Court seeking the Democratic Party’s nomination for mayor in Ellwood City.
Court garnered 65 percent of the vote on Tuesday with a total of 585 votes in the unofficial tally from the primary election.
His opponent Ralph Chiappetta got 307 votes or 34 percent of the vote.
“I attribute [his victory] to the hard work of my campaign workers – all my workers and their support,” Court said.
Both candidates waged write-in campaigns for the Republican nomination opening up the possibility that Chiappetta and Court could face off again in the general election.
There were 188 write-in votes on the Republican ticket and no one else on the ballot seeking the nomination for mayor. The names of those who received votes have not been made public by the Lawrence County Elections office.
Chiappetta credits his poor showing on the Democratic side to a low voter turn out.
“There were a couple of situations at the polling place I have to look into,” he added.
Court, who could be unopposed in the fall, said he is ready to get to work as mayor.
The winner in the general election this November will take over for Mayor Don Clyde, who did not seek reelection.
The race for party nominations for Ellwood City Council included some familiar faces among the winners.
Current councilman Anthony “Lefty” DeCarbo was the top vote getter in the Democratic race with 563 votes.
Newcomer Judith Dici finished second in the race with 468 votes followed by current Councilwoman Angela Valvano at 458 votes.
Peter “Whitey” Maietta rounded out the top four with 428 votes.
Unsuccessful for the Democratic nomination were Gene Coccia in fifth place with 388 votes, Glenn Jones followed with 373 votes and Rocco “Rocky” Ierino pulled the last spot with 270 votes.
On the Republican ticket current Councilman George Celli was the only candidate on the ticket and received 250 votes. There were also 226 write-in votes on the Republican side.
The Lawrence County return board meets on Friday and a tally of the write-in votes won’t be available until sometime next week.
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