Four candidates, including two incumbents, unofficially won seats on the Hollidaysburg Area School Board Tuesday night.

According to unofficial reports from the Blair County Elections Office, newcomers Carmen Bilek and Jennifer Costanza are the apparent winners of 4-year terms for school board along with incumbents Ronald Sommer and Scott Brenneman. Bilek ran as a Republican while the other three crossfiled as both Republican and Democrat.

Results are un­­­­­­­­­­­­official and in­­complete as mail and absentee ballots remain to be counted, but Bilek apparently led all vote getters with 4,058 votes, followed by Costanza with 3,697, Brenneman, 3,068, and Sommer, 2,927.

“I’m humbled by the enormous support from the community,” Bilek said. “I’m really looking forward to working with the new board members and representing the students and parents in the community.”

The quartet appear to have topped Christopher Garman, who received the fewest votes among candidates on the ballot with 1,753, according to Tuesday night’s unofficial results.

Bilek, 62, a consultant for First Energy/Penelec, has four grandchildren in the district.

While she declined to pinpoint any specific issues the board needs to address, Bilek said she is excited to get to work and bring a unique vision to Hollidaysburg.

“I think I can really bring my ability to look outside of the box when it comes to decision-making,” she said. “I just feel that type of thinking can really help with financial and budgetary decisions.”

Costanza is employed at Blair Senior Services as a guardianship/domiciliary care coordinator and has children in Hollidaysburg public schools.

Attempts to reach Costanza after the election were unsuccessful, but in a candidate questionnaire, she said she believes in parental choice regarding the use of face coverings in the school building and cutting taxes instead of raising them.

“Whether a child wears a mask or not is the choice of parents and guardians, not the HASD administration,” she said in the questionnaire.

Brenneman, 47, is the current vice president of the Hollidaysburg Area School Board and is the apparent winner of a third straight term on the board.

He said he is appreciative of the support from the community and will continue to hold himself, as well as the district, to a high standard.

“I hope that I’m able to continue to make good decisions,” said Brenneman, who has children enrolled in the district. “I’ve tried to make good decisions in my time on the board, and I hope to do that moving forward in order to serve our students and the community.”

Brenneman said he looks forward to working with the two newcomers, but added he wants more unison among school board members.

“It’s a challenging position, and I wish the new members all the best,” Brenneman said. “I would really like all of us to work together moving forward.”

Sommer, 64, practices as a dentist and is the current school board president.

He is also preparing for his third term on the school board and said he envisions a bright future for the district.

“This board, myself included, has done a really great job the past eight years,” Sommers said. “We have made some very tough decisions recently, but I feel we have made every decision with the students’ best interests in mind.”

Garman, 41, believes he ran an honest campaign that did not align with any political party, and he said he hopes the board will work together and “do what is best for the students.”

“I really think a school board needs to be nonpartisan and shouldn’t follow any political agendas,” said Garman, who is a Hollidaysburg resident and works at UPMC Altoona. “I’m an analytically-driven person — not politically driven. I think there is a real need to look at the analytics and have unbiased views on the issues that come up.”

Bilek and Costanzo filled vacated seats previously held by Rick Gallagher and Melissa Mitchell, neither of whom sought re-election.

Mirror Staff Writer Calem Illig is at 814-946-7535.