Lebanon County voters put two-term incumbent District Attorney Pier Hess Graf on the fall ballot for the GOP ticket by a more than 2:1 margin over challenger Michael J. Light II.
Graf received 8,902 votes to Light’s 3,755. Another 26 were cast in the Republican primary as write-in votes.
Graf said she was grateful for the voters casting theirs for her.
“I am in headquarters and there is a decent celebration going on for all of the municipal races as well as the county races,” said Graf, who added she was “tired but grateful” after a long day working the polls. “I am very grateful for every person who campaigned for me, volunteered for me, and also for every voter that came out today even with a low turnout.”
Graf said she was shocked by the low numbers at the polls.
“It’s shocking to look at an election and, look, you have the right to vote, you have the ability to vote, and I want you to vote, but it was a low turnout,” Graf said. “Everyone who came out was so receptive and very positive and I am grateful for the people of Lebanon County for giving me four more years and the opportunity to continue to do this job.”
Graf added she is grateful for the trust the voters have put into her for prosecuting crimes committed in Lebanon County.
“What I can tell voters is it is four more years of putting criminals behind bars, four more years of deporting illegal criminals if they deserve it, four more years of keeping our community safer,” Graf said. “Again, I am very proud and very grateful for that opportunity.”
Light told LebTown he believes he could be on the Democratic ticket for the fall election if he receives at least 100 of the 570 write-in votes cast by Democratic voters in Tuesday’s primary election.
A total of 313 write-ins were cast on Election Day by Democratic voters for the office of Lebanon County district attorney, with another 257 submitted via mail-in ballots.
No other names appeared on the Democratic ticket for that county row office.
“I am interested to see where we are on the Democratic ticket with the write-ins and how many of those votes were dedicated to me,” Light said.
Light said he wonders whether his write-in votes will show up as Mike Light, Michael Light or Michael Light II.
He noted, however, that he believes a judge would rule in his favor if multiple versions of his name are used since only licensed attorneys may appear on the ballot for the office of district attorney. He believes he’s the only Michael Light in Lebanon County with a law license.
“Because you have to be a licensed attorney to run for district attorney, it makes it a little bit easier to argue that those votes were cast for me,” he added.
Light stated those write-in votes are to be reviewed Wednesday and he hoped to learn where he stands once that process occurs. For now, he said he was content in having run a positive campaign.
“I tried to run a very positive campaign. I thought a lot of the news coverage of the negatives around Pier would help me, and it probably did help me with a lot of the votes I did receive. But she is a politician in the Republican political group, which helped her a lot,” Light said. “I don’t fault her for that, and she also ran a great campaign. There was never a smear campaign by either one of us, and I believe that’s the way all elections should be.”
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