Doyle

HOLLIDAYSBURG — Blair County’s updated election results confirmed Wednesday that President Judge Elizabeth Doyle lost her bid for a third term.

Unofficial votes posted Wednesday, including the results of all mailed ballots, showed 12,336 voters answering “no” to retaining Doyle — 516 more than the 11,820 who voted “yes.”

Results posted Tuesday night showed Doyle’s retention in jeopardy when the “no” votes stood at 11,881 — 770 more than the 11,111 yes votes. At that time, the county had an additional 1,333 mailed ballots to process and count.

Doyle, who in 2013 was retained to serve a second 10-year term, will remain in office through the end of December, according to Stacey Witalec, spokeswoman for the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts.

An appointment to fill the vacant judicial seat created by the failed retention vote will rest with Gov. Josh Shapiro’s office, which will offer a nominee to the state Senate for two-thirds confirmation.

After Judge Daniel J. Milliron’s retirement became effective in December 2021, it took six months before Gov. Tom Wolf’s office, acting on a recommendation by state Sen. Judy Ward, R-Blair, nominated Ilissa Zimmerman to fill the vacancy, paving the way for Zimmerman to be approved and sworn in on July 20, 2022, for a period ending Dec. 31.

While Blair County has five county judicial seats, it’s been operating with one vacancy this year because Judge Timothy M. Sullivan resigned in December 2022 to become a senior judge.

In January, the lack of Doyle’s retention means the court will remain a judge short, as newly elected judges David Consiglio and Fred Miller join incumbent judges Wade Kagarise, who was retained Tuesday for a 10-year term and Jackie Bernard, who is in the middle of her first term.

Rhonda Holland, president of Blair County Public Accountability, the political action committee that campaigned against Doyle’s retention, said Wednesday that she remains confident that Ward will recommend a suitable replacement for the governor to consider in filling the vacant seat.

Holland said she asked Ward about the appointment process before Tuesday’s election because voters were asking that question.

“I really think that we tapped into something that people already knew about,” Holland said in describing the committee’s desire to see Doyle replaced.

Holland said she formed the committee after becoming dismayed with Doyle for a shelter-in-place order interfering with child custody agreements during the COVID-19 pandemic, then learned of others, including law enforcement officers, who were upset with Doyle’s decisions in bail reduction cases.

“We didn’t have a lot of money, but when I worked outside the Church of Good Shepherd (Tyrone) polling place on Election Day, people told me that when they saw the (newspaper) ad with all those people holding ‘Vote No’ signs, that’s what made up their mind,” Holland said.

The advertisement included Holland, retired Blair County Sheriff Mitch Cooper, retired Greenfield Township Police Chief Ron Givler, retired Roaring Spring Police Chief Milton Fields, retired Allegheny Township Police Chief Leo Berg, former state attorney general agent Randy Feathers, former state Sen. John Eichelberger, R-Blair, former state Rep. John McGinnis, R-Altoona, county Republican committee member Stacey Kensinger and Harry Mullins of Williamsburg.

Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 814-946-7456.