VOTE 2025: GOP Voters Have Plenty on the Line in May Primary

NOTE: This is the first of three preview articles on the 2025 Schuylkill County Municipal Primary Election.

Republican voters in Schuylkill County will have plenty to decide during the May 20 Primary Election.

There are two contested countywide battles on the GOP ballot and a hotly contested race for Magisterial District Judge in western Schuylkill County.

And for Democrat voters … well, the Primary doesn’t look nearly as enticing this year.

2025 Schuylkill County Municipal Primary Election Preview

There are big races for Schuylkill County District Attorney and Sheriff in 2025. Barring any third-party entries after the Primary, it appears whoever emerges victorious among GOP voters has an easy path to a win in November.

In the race for District Attorney, incumbent Mike O’Pake will face a challenge for political newcomer John Urbanski, a former police officer-turned lawyer.

This will be O’Pake’s first election since defecting from the Democrat Party earlier this year.

The race for Schuylkill County Sheriff has Shawn Butler, the current Chief Deputy Sheriff, facing off against Frank DiMarco, a semi-retired police officer from Walker Township.

DiMarco previously ran for Register of Wills in the 2019 GOP Primary.

District Magistrate Judge – Tremont

All eyes in western Schuylkill County will be focused on a hotly contested race for Magisterial District Judge in 21-3-04. And this is one race where Democrat voters actually have a choice on the ballot.

There are five candidates vying for the Republican spot on the November General Election ballot: Christian Lengel, Jen Foose, Guy Smith, Marty Sowers, and Tim Seip.

Seip and Sowers have cross-filed in this race, so they’ll appear on the Democrat ballot in May, too. The winners of these races, unless one person wins both contests in the Primary, will face off in November.

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