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Five candidates, including two incumbent board members, unofficially punched their ticket on the ballot in November for the Hollidaysburg Area School Board.
According to unofficial reports from the Blair County Elections Office, incumbents Scott Brenneman and Ronald Sommer apparently will be joined by Jennifer Costanza, Carmen Bilek and Christopher Garman in a race for four seats this fall.
Constanza, Brenneman and Sommer appear to have won ballot spots with both parties.
While results are unofficial and incomplete as some absentee and mail ballots are yet to be counted, Sommer received 1,663 votes and leads a tight race for the final Republican spot against Jonathan Grier.
Sommer, a dentist and the current board president, leads Grier (1,584) by less than 80 votes.
"It looks very close right now for the fourth spot," said Sommer, who was second among vote-getters on the Democratic ballot. "The result could change. I definitely would have hoped for a higher turnout."
Costanza, 37, led the Republican ticket with 2,054 votes.
She works at Blair Senior Services as a guardianship/domiciliary care coordinator and has children in Hollidaysburg public schools.
Costanza did not respond to a request for comment, but in a candidate questionnaire, she said she is seeking to keep spending under control while complying with state and federal mandates.
"The board must be proactive in reining in spending and looking at the value we get from every dollar spent," Costanza said in her questionnaire.
Brenneman, who is the current board vice president, was second among Republicans with 2,000 votes and was the highest vote-getter among Democrats with 581 votes.
He has children in the district and is seeking his third term.
"I believe I've done a good job over the past seven years," Brenneman said. "My goal is helping people in the entire community, and I always want to do a good job for the people I serve."
Bilek, 62, earned a spot on the Republican ticket with 1,761 votes.
The Frankstown Township resident has spent more than 35 years working for FirstEnergy/Penelec and is the co-owner of two local businesses.
While he did not earn a spot on the Republican ballot, Hollidaysburg resident and UPMC Altoona employee Christopher Garman claimed a spot on the Democratic ticket with 474 votes.
Garman said he was unsure why he was favored among Democratic voters, but he said his campaign does not align with any party.
"I came into this with no agenda, and I ran my campaign as non-political," Garman said. "I think a school board member shouldn't be a political position; rather, it should come as an act of community service."
Hollidaysburg Community Watchdog President Richard Latker missed out on both tickets after finishing sixth among Republicans with 1,394 votes and seventh in the Democratic race with 116 votes.
Eric Eminhizer, who is a self-starter in the development and timber industry, was the only candidate to not run on both ballots. Running solely on the Republican ballot, he received the least votes among candidates with 646.
Eminhizer said he thinks a lack of previous political experience hurt his campaign, and he said he does not plan to run for any public offices in the future.
"I was trying to run an honest campaign, because I didn't want to see our taxes be raised," Eminhizer said. "I think you're going to see that now."
Current board members Rick Gallagher and Melissa Mitchell did not seek re-election.
Costanza, Bilek, Grier and Latker could not be reached for comment.
Mirror Staff Writer Calem Illig is at 814-946-7535.