All 7 Upper Perkiomen School Board candidates advance to general election

All seven of the candidates running for four open seats on the Upper Perkiomen School Board survived the primary to move on to the general election in November.

But only one of them, Paige Konopelsky, won both a Republican and a Democratic line on the November ballot. She won 489 Republican votes and 1,329 Democratic votes, according to unofficial results from both Montgomery and Berks counties.

All the rest won just a Republican or just a Democratic line, according to official results from Montgomery and Berks counties.

The two incumbents, Keith McCarrick and Melanie Cunningham, won Republican ballot lines with totals of 1,106 and 1,105, respectively.

Also winning a Republican ballot line was Nora Trabin, with 871 votes.

On the Democratic side, the winners were Monica Oswald with 1,317, William Hoier with 1,109, and Christina Andrews with 1,152 votes.

Because they are considered non-partisan positions, state law allows school board candidates to seek both the Republican and Democratic ballot lines for the general election on Nov. 5, which can sometimes mean parts of the election are decided in the primary when a candidate wins both ballot lines.

Because Pennsylvania has a “closed” primary system, registered Democrats get “Democratic” ballots and registered Republicans get “Republican” ballots.

However, in general elections, voters of both parties, along with independents who could not vote in the primary, are free to choose the candidates of their choice, no matter the party.