It's Election Day. Here's Who's On the Ballot

Good morning everyone, and welcome to Election Day!

Normally, I don't get that excited about elections, but this is the first one since we launched in late November.

And it's pretty significant, at least on a local level. 

Here in Easton, voters will nominate three Democratic candidates for city council in a four-person race (which we outlined here ). Since there's no one on the Republican ticket, today's election essentially decides the race.

Of course, there's the mayoral race as well, but with unopposed on the Democratic side and challenger the only candidate on the Republican ballot, the race doesn't really heat up until the fall.

There's three sets of races for the Easton Area School Board.

In , which makes up Palmer Township and part of the West Ward, there are six cross-filed -- that means their names appear on the Republican and Democratic ballots -- candidates seeking three seats:

• Robert Arnts, a retired Easton Area High School history teacher.
• Robert Fehnel, who served 25 years on the Wilson Area School Board. (He now lives in Palmer Township, as do all the Region I candidates.)
• Jodi Hess, an incumbent board member.
• Millie Mandarino, also an incumbent. 
• William Rider, the former principal of .
• Richard Siegried, who previously served on the board for eight years. 

In , which is made up of Easton's South Side and Riegelsville, three people are seeking the seat left vacant by board member Kerry Myers:

• Ronnie DelBacco, a warehouse manager.
• Frank Pintabone, an insurance broker.
• Bill Timmann, owner of two locksmith companies.

Timman and DelBacco -- both Republicans -- are cross-filed, while Pintabone -- a Democrat -- only appears on his party's ballot.

 There's also a race in Region III -- Forks, parts of Lower Mount Bethel and Easton -- where incumbent Kerry Leonard-Ellison faces a challenge from newcomer Frank Castrovinci, a controller for Air Products. Both candidates are cross-filed.

If you live in the West Ward, Wilson, or West Easton, you'll be choosing a new district judge to fill the seat left vacant by Michael Koury when he became a county judge:

•  Rhonda Elias, a project manager at General Supply and former youth care worker for the Northampton County Juvenile Detention Center. 
• Shana Restucci, a Wilson legal secretary and former secretary to county judge Edward Smith.
• Richard Yetter, an attorney from Wilson with offices in Bethlehem Township.

And then there's Gracedale.

If you've followed the local news at all in the past few months, seen the stories.

Northampton County , based in Upper Nazareth. A group of citizens that hopes to prevent the salehas

Here's how it reads:

Vote Yes or No

"The county nursing home, known as Gracedale, shall not be sold and/or leased by the County of Northampton for a period of five (5) years from the date of the approval of this initiative."

Like I said, we've written about this before, and have run a few opinion pieces on the issue.

Northampton County Controller , while columnists and have argued for it.

The Lehigh Valley Tea Party published a voters guide last week that asks County Executive John Stoffa and Mario Martinez -- leader of the group opposing the sale -- the same series of questions. Not surprisingly, a lot of their answers were very different.

There's also a guide that the Morning Call published that lays out a lot of the debate surrounding the sale.

The Gracedale issue is informing this year's county council races as well. In most primary races, the candidates are unopposed, except for the Easton area's District II, where Republican Councilman Mike Dowd -- who is in favor of selling Gracedale -- faces a challenge from Bill Whitman, a school administrator who opposes the sale.

Whoever wins today will face Democrat Robert Werner in the fall. District II includes Easton, Wilson, West Easton, Tatamy, Stockertown and Glendon, as well as Palmer, Forks and Williams Townships.

And remember: even though state law keeps third-party/independent voters from voting in most primary races, anyone who's a registered voter can have a say on Gracedale.

If you encounter any problems at the polls (such as voting machines that malfunction) or see anything interesting while you're voting, write to me tom.coombe@patch.com.

Patch will report local election results as soon as they become available. Check back tonight for updates after the polls close.