PENNSYLVANIA PRIMARY Mangino, Hodge to vie for judge post

A public defender won the Democratic nomination for district attorney.
By VIRGINIA ROSS
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- It looks as though Lawrence County District Attorney Matthew T. Mangino and county solicitor John W. Hodge will be battling each other for the county's vacant court of common pleas judge post in November's general election.
Tuesday's primary resulted in Hodge's ranking as the top Republican candidate and Mangino the top Democrat.
According to preliminary results, Hodge, a Republican, garnered 4,868, or about 38 percent, of the Democrat votes and 4,900, or nearly 61 percent, of the Republican vote. Mangino, a Democrat, claimed 6,132, or 48 percent, of the Democrat votes and 2,336, or 29 percent, of the Republican votes.
The third candidate, Atty. Joseph J. Kearney, a Democrat, claimed about 10 percent of the votes from each party -- with 1,660 from the Democrats and 806 from the Republicans.
All three of the candidates had cross-filed.
District attorney
In the race for district attorney, Democrat John Bongivengo watched the monitors at the Lawrence County Government Center in New Castle, showing little reaction as the numbers danced up on the screens.
Later, the 34-year-old public defender was able to smile when it became apparent he was his party's top choice for district attorney.
With 36 percent of his party's votes, Bongivengo came in as the top contender in Tuesday's primary.
Bongivengo will face Republican Atty. George Freed, 54, in November's general election for the county's top prosecutor's seat. Freed was unopposed in the GOP primary. "It's nice," Bongivengo said. "Very nice."
According to preliminary election results, Bongivengo garnered 4,324 of his party's votes. Atty. Angelo A. Papa, 54, a former assistant district attorney now in private practice, claimed 3,992, or 33 percent, of the votes. Papa's cousin, also a Democrat, James R. Papa, 29, an assistant district attorney, came in third with 3,741, or 31 percent, of the party's votes.
Elections officials reported that about one-third of Lawrence County's 60,000 registered voters voted Tuesday.