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Democratic challengers in Columbia, Ephrata, Manheim and Mountville fell at the ballot boxes, including Mountville's incumbent mayor.
Connie M. Guy, 54, at the end of her first term, was soundly defeated by Philip S. Kresge, 56, a teacher and musician who also served on Mountville Borough Council for 12 years.
The unofficial results in Mountville were:
Kresge — 234
Guy — 69
In Columbia, two-term incumbent Leo S. Lutz won his bid for a third go-round as mayor, defeating a challenge from James Robert Haug, 58, a former U.S. Postal Service letter carrier.
The unofficial results in Columbia were:
Lutz — 666
Haug — 248
Following Tuesday's election, Lutz, 62, a retired operations supervisor for Caterpillar Inc., said, "I'm very honored to be elected for the third time by the people of Columbia. I think this sends a message to myself and the borough council that the voters believe in the efforts we are taking toward the economic development and revitalization of the borough, and we will move forward with these plans and hopefully have a better Columbia over the next four years."
In one other contested Columbia race, Republican Tom Vecchiolli was elected borough tax collector, defeating Democrat Sonya M. Duncan.
The unofficial results were:
Vecchiolli — 562
Duncan — 345
In Ephrata, Democratic challengers for mayor and two council seats all lost.
Mayor Ralph Mowen defeated George DiIlio by an almost 2-1 ratio to win his fifth term. Independent candidate Kenneth C. Brenneman came in a distant third.
"I'm very happy to have won, and I look forward to serving the people of Ephrata for another four years," Mowen said Tuesday night. "We will now go forward and do what we can to keep the borough the wonderful place it is to live."
The unofficial results in Ephrata were:
Mowen — 852
DiIlio — 466
Brenneman — 160
Contacted Tuesday night, DiIlio said he was "disappointed." Yet, he said, he was encouraged that Democrats could "compete with the big boys" and challenge GOP in the heavily Republican town.
"We won't just fold up our tents and go away," DiIlio said. "We will continue to be an active part of the community, to question, encourage and sometimes give opposing viewpoints. So amid the disappointment, there are lessons learned, and we will move ahead and see how we can pull it all together in the future."
In Ephrata's 3rd Ward, Republican Wendy Perillo, filling a vacancy on the council, won her own first term, defeating Democratic challenger Tim L. Barr and Independent Kenneth C. Brenneman.
The unofficial results were:
Perillo — 209
Barr — 153
Brenneman — 54
In the borough's fourth ward, Republican Victor E. Richard won his second term over newcomer Jeffrey Lang.
The unofficial results were:
Richard — 204
Lang — 144
Manheim's mayoral race went to Republican Eric B. Phillips, who defeated his Democratic opponent, Rebekah L. Bowers, by an almost 4-1 vote.
The unofficial results in Manheim were:
Phillips — 354
Bowers — 89
In Lititz's 3rd Ward, Democrat F. Patrick O'Keeffe came in second to Republican G. Kevin Zartman by nearly 200 votes.
The unofficial results in Lititz were:
Zartman — 401
O'Keeffe — 203
The only other contested race in Lititz was for constable, where Republican Richard Rhinier won over Democrat Troy Litzenberger.
The unofficial results in that race were:
Rhinier — 128
Litzenberger — 40
In Adamstown, one of two Democratic challengers won a seat on borough council.
Cindy Schweitzer, 51, came in third in a race for four seats, behind incumbent Republicans David R. Matz and Randy O. Good. Republican Benjamin Zentner, 32, won the fourth seat.
A second Democrat, Gary Stuck, and Republican Andre S. Gagliano, came in fifth and sixth, respectively.
The unofficial results in Adamstown were:
Good — 165
Matz — 156
Schweitzer — 135
Zentner — 124
Stuck — 52
Gagliano — 42
