Graf wins re-election in Lebanon County DA race; turnout higher than expected

Pier Hess Graf won re-election as Lebanon County District Attorney by a margin of just under 6,400 votes in Tuesday’s municipal election.

Graf, the Republican incumbent, received 21,501 votes to 15,112 for Michael J. Light II, the Democratic challenger. Graf’s margin of victory was 59% to 41%.

Also winning county row offices were Republican incumbent Sheriff Jeffrie C. Marley Jr., who won a second term in office, and Brian Craig, who won another term as Register of Wills. Both ran unopposed in Tuesday’s election.

Read More: Lebanon County 2025 general municipal election results: Complete list

LebTown reached out to both and Graf and Light for comment, with Graf declining to comment to LebTown shortly after it was announced at the Steitz Club in Lebanon that she had won. Graf said her election committee would release a statement on Wednesday.

She did, however, email a statement to LebTown on Tuesday evening that read:

“I want to begin by thanking the thousands of Lebanon County voters who put their faith in me again to serve in this important role. I am profoundly grateful and deeply humbled by their continued support. As a lifelong resident of Lebanon County, I take serving as the chief law enforcement officer seriously every single day. Our office is committed to continuing to do our part, working alongside our brave law enforcement officers and first responders, to keep our communities safe.” 

Lebanon County Republican Committee chairman Bill Bova announced shortly before 10 p.m. that everyone knew Graf would win and that she “won easy” seconds before also proudly proclaiming that Sherry Capello won re-election as Lebanon city mayor.

The difference in votes for Tuesday’s election between Graf and Light was much closer than the results of the municipal primary election in May, when Light, who is a Lebanon County public defender, lost by a 2:1 margin running against Graf on the Republican ticket. Graf received 8,902 votes to Light’s 3,755 in the primary. 

On Tuesday, Light held an advantage over Graf with mail-in ballots, getting 5,427 mail-in ballots to Graf’s 3,094. 

In May, Light decided to run on the Democratic ticket after receiving the minimum of 100 votes to qualify to have his name on the ballot. However, Light ran a sparse campaign as evidenced by his campaign finance report that showed he had received less than $250 during the final campaign filing report due just before the election and had spent about $900 to promote his campaign. 

By contrast, Graf’s campaign reported expenditures of over $52,000 for the period of mid-June through mid-October while also raising $46,000 during that same time period. 

Read More: DA candidates file campaign finance reports before Tuesday’s election

Other county election results

Voters cast 28,073 votes for Marley and 27,904 for Craig to retain their respective county row offices. 

LebTown jokingly asked Marley if the masses were calling for four more years after he said he had visited six voting precincts during the day.

Marley responded that fellow Republican and state Rep. John Schlegel said those very words when both simultaneously arrived at the Steitz Club on Cumberland and Fourth streets, which is where party members gathered to wait for election results. 

Televisions in various rooms were broadcasting the results from other races around the country as party members watched those screens or those on their phones for local results, including school boards and other municipal elections.

Craig said a focus in his third term is to maintain or lower costs incurred for existing programs while potentially also finding ways to raise revenue that will benefit the county coffers. He said he spent the day campaigning in Palmyra for four conservative candidates for the Palmyra school board.

Voter turnout

Joy Scarborough, deputy director of the Lebanon County Elections Bureau, said at around 4:30 p.m. that the election was running smoothly and election officials were pleasantly surprised with voter turnout. (Elections director Sean Drasher was in the field visiting precincts in mid-afternoon.)

Scarborough said 8,500 mail-in ballots had been received as of Election Day, and canvassers processed the ballots in about two hours after polls opened at 7 a.m. 

She also said voter totals were projecting to be around 25% compared to the projected 18 to 20% turnout that was expected for this election. When LebTown visited the elections office, staff was answering phones and questions from voters coming into the office who had questions – especially about mail-in ballots. 

Although election materials clearly state that voters are only permitted to return their own mail-in ballot – unless the person delivering the ballot has been made a designee – some voters still are unaware of the state law. 

A representative from a care facility attempted to deliver about 12 ballots at around 4 p.m. but was informed at the drive-thru mail ballot booth that those votes could not be accepted without designation letters for each candidate. About an hour later, the care facility employee returned with designation letters, which were accepted by election worker Elizabeth “Libby” Yarborough of Lebanon. 

Yarborough said she was working the drive-by booth from 1:30 p.m. until the polls closed at 8, adding that she felt returned mail-in ballots were up over other elections she has worked. 

She enthusiastically went to each vehicle that pulled up and confirmed that voters could drop off their ballot at the booth. She asked each person if they had remembered to date and sign their mail-in ballots 

“The only problem has been that some people have tried to drop off ballots that are not their own,” Yarborough said. “And I can’t accept them without the person being designated to deliver it.”

Yarborough agreed with Scarborough’s assessment that voting numbers were up, and answered when asked that one person told her the reason they came out to vote was for one candidate. Immediately refusing to say without being asked who the candidate that voter was interested in voting for, she did say that the voter felt compelled to vote for the district attorney race.

“People are also more focused on what’s going on,” Yarborough added.