Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Staff report
WARREN
The race for the three at-large Warren City Council positions is close enough for the Trumbull County Board of Elections to have an automatic recount at 9 a.m. June 2.
The elections board will recount 240 of the ballots by hand (5 percent) to determine whether Bill Kruppa or James T. Valesky Jr. will be the winner of the third at-large seat.
Incumbents Helen Rucker and Dan Sferra received the highest vote totals in the race and will be re-elected to the two other seats if no write-in candidate challenges them in November. Rucker received 3,871 votes, and Sferra received 3,339.
The elections board certified the results of the May 3 primary election Tuesday. The results showed that Valesky has a 19-vote lead over Kruppa, 2,411 to 2,391, which means the vote difference falls within the one half of 1 percent difference required for an automatic recount.
Recounts are not required for any of the other races or levy requests, meaning that Doug Franklin has won the Democratic nomination for Warren mayor and will assume office in early 2012 if no write-in candidate challenges him in October. The write-in deadline is Aug. 29.