Eight attorneys are running for two Mercer County Common Pleas Court seats in the May 20 primary.

Eight attorneys are running for two Mercer County Common Pleas Court seats in the May 20 primary. All were rated by members of the Mercer County Bar Association as to their qualifications, and all will run on both the Republican and Democrat tickets:
JAMES M. GOODWIN
Age: 44.Home: Sharon.Employment: Private practice attorney and assistant public defender.Education: Honors graduate of Sharon High School and Washington & amp; Jefferson College; law degree from Duquesne University School of Law.Experience: Practicing general law since 1984, assistant public defender since 1986.Bar Association membership vote: Highly qualified-22, qualified-68, unqualified-3.Family: Wife, Colleen; two children.Priority: Use his combination of strong family values, legal experience and leadership roles in community service to serve with competence and integrity.
JOANN M. JOFERY
Age: 50.Home: Wheatland.Employment: Private practice attorney.Education: Graduate of Kennedy Christian High School in Hermitage, cum laude graduate of Gannon University with degree in criminal justice, master's degree in counseling from Westminster College and law degree from the University of Akron School of Law.Experience: A former caseworker for Mercer County Children and Youth Services and Children's Services of Erie County; self-employed law practice since January 1990.Bar Association membership vote: Highly qualified-4, qualified-31, unqualified-58.Family: Single.Priority: To establish a courtroom where the litigants, attorneys and staff feel that justice and respect are a given and to be responsive to the needs of the public.
MARGARET T. LUCAS
Age: 44.Home: Hermitage.Employment: Private practice attorney.Education: Graduate of Sharon High School, bachelor's degree in education at Thiel college, law degree from Duquesne University School of Law.Experience: Self-employed attorney since January 2001, previously with the firms of Halliday & amp; Halliday of Greenville from 1984 to 1987 and Routman, Moore, Goldstone and Valentino of Sharon from 1987 to 2001.Bar Association membership vote: Highly qualified-17, qualified-54, unqualified-22.Family: Husband, David; two sons.Priority: To continue the high standard of judicial excellence that we currently enjoy and to implement a consolidation of family law matters, especially custody proceedings.
WILLIAM G. MCCONNELL JR.
Age: 38.Home: Sharon.Employment: Private practice attorney.Education: Graduate of Sharon High School, political science degree from Westminster College, law degree from Duquesne University School of Law, Naval Justice School.Experience: Attorney with the firm of Ekker, Kuster, McConnell & amp; Epstein since January 1996, attorney with the firm of Qualey & amp; Kennedy in Hilton Head, S.C., from 1993 to 1996, officer in the United States Marine Corps from 1990 to 1993.Bar Association membership vote: Highly qualified-15, qualified-47, unqualified-31.Family: Single.Priority: To improve the efficiency of the administration of justice in Mercer County by giving the court administrator more power to expedite trials, implementing a weekly civil motions court to expedite civil cases and using the Internet to improve scheduling and non-privileged communication between the court and attorneys.
STEPHEN J. MIRIZIO
Age: 56.Home: Farrell.Employment: Private practice attorney and solicitor for the city of Farrell .Education: Graduate of Farrell High School, accounting degree from Youngstown State University, law degree from Cleveland Sate University's Cleveland-Marshall College of Law.Experience: A sole practitioner since his graduation from college in 1974 implementing every aspect of the law.Bar Association membership vote: Highly qualified-19, qualified-57, unqualified-17.Family: Wife, Carisse; two sons.Priority: To apply my education, experience, knowledge, dedication, tolerance and no-nonsense attitude as a common pleas court judge.
JAMES NEVANT II
Age: 48.Home: Sharon.Employment: Private practice attorney and solicitor for the Mercer County sheriff, Mercer County Regional Council of Governments and Farrell Area School District.Education: Graduate of Farrell High School, bachelor's degree in education from Pennsylvania State University, law degree from Widener University School of Law.Experience: Practicing law since 1982, former assistant district attorney and former chief public defender for Mercer County, part-time college instructor in business law.Bar Association membership vote: Highly qualified-13, qualified-53, unqualified-27.Family: Wife, Deborah; a daughter and a son.Priority: The fair, efficient and honest administration of justice.
JOHN C. REED
Age: 60.Home: South Pymatuning Township.Employment: Private practice attorney.Education: Graduate of Hickory High School and Thiel College, law degree from Duquesne University School of Law.Experience: Diverse law practice for more than 30 years, solicitor to the Mercer County sheriff and Sharpsville and West Middlesex schools and legal advisor appointed by Mercer County courts to the Mercer County Domestic Relations Division and to serve on the Orphans Court rules committee. He served three years as a counterintelligence investigator with the U.S. Army.Bar Association membership vote: Highly qualified-55, qualified-30, unqualified-9.Family: Wife, Virginia, three sons and a daughter.Priority: To use his experience, credentials and leadership to serve the county as a common pleas judge.
CHRISTOPHER J. ST. JOHN
Age: 50.Home: Clark.Employment: Partner in the Greenville law firm of Rowley, Wallace, Keck, Karson & amp; St. John, a Mercer County public defender, solicitor for Mercer County Industrial Development Authority and six townships.Education: Graduate of Kennedy Christian High School, Hermitage, attended John Carroll University in Cleveland and earned a bachelor's degree in law enforcement and corrections from Pennsylvania State University, law degree from Cleveland State University's Cleveland-Marshall School of Law.Experience: Practicing attorney since mid-1980s, former criminal investigator for the Mercer County district attorney's office, a legal assistant for the firm of Kirkland & amp; Ellis in Washington, D.C., from 1977 to 1980.Bar Association membership vote: Highly qualified-52, qualified-34, unqualified-8.Family: Wife, Cynthia, two daughters.Priority: To use all of my education and training, my analytical and critical writing skills and my vast courtroom experience to resolve cases in a fair and expeditious manner.