Wise could have to choose office

Current school board member top vote-getter for two seats in primary

LEWISTOWN -- If Tuesday's primary elections were a baseball game, Mifflin County commissioner and school board candidate Noah Wise would have swept the doubleheader.

The Burnham man was projected to win the Republican nomination for Mifflin County Commissioner and also emerged as the top Republican vote-getter in Mifflin County's Board of School Directors race.

Mifflin County Director of Elections Paula Hoffman said Wise will have to decide which position he wants prior to the general election on Nov. 7. Hoffman wasn't certain of what the specific timetable was for Wise to make a decision.

Wise's platform was simple and straightforward: "I will be running on common sense and honesty," he said during the Mifflin County Farm Bureau's Measure the Candidate Night on May 3.

In the school board voting, Wise received 3,397 of 22,624 total votes. Voters were asked to select five candidates on the ballot. Rounding out the top five vote-getters were Paula Dickson at 2,743 votes, Fredrick Nickel at 2,720 votes, Zeb Harshbarger at 2,455 votes and E. Terry Styers at 2,352 votes.

On the Democratic side, Wise received 775 votes, which finished last among the five candidates. Mary Lou Sigler was the top vote getter with 1,130 of 5,189 total votes with Dianne Shearer following closely behind with 1,126.

According to Tuesday's results for county commissioner, Wise received 2,849 of 10,410 total votes while current commissioner Robert Postal received 2,679 votes.

Wise is an active leader in the community, serving as a member of the Burnham Borough Sewer Authority and Mifflin County Academy of Science and Technology operating committee.