MILTON - Mike Diehl won both nominations in a four-way race for magisterial district judge in the Milton area.
Unofficial returns show that Diehl enjoyed a healthy margin of victory in the Republican primary while edging his nearest competitor on the Democratic ballot by only three votes. Candidates for elected judicial positions are allowed to cross-file in both parties.
On the Republican ballot, Diehl, of Point Township, had 684 votes, compared to 496 votes for Larry Redington, 328 for Lisa A. Riley and 132 for Seth M. Cotner.
Diehl's closest competitor in the Democratic primary was Riley. He polled 221, compared to 218 for her. Reddington had 182 and Cotner 90.
The magisterial district judge seat was held by William F. Kear, who retired in early 2011 after more than two decades service. District Judge Robert Bolton was moved from Sunbury to Milton, but he, too, retired in 2012.
Since that time, Richard P. Cashman, of Centre County, a senior district judge, has been serving as a temporary replacement in the Milton office.
According to the Daily Item newspaper in Sunbury, Diehl's father, Robert E. Diehl Jr., is an attorney, and the late Northumberland County President Judge Michael Kivko is his great-grandfather.