In general, the boards of county commissioners in Pennsylvania are bipartisan — they typically have at least one Republican and one Democrat. But in Potter County, a successful write-in campaign this year means Republicans will hold all three seats.
Robert Rossman lost his bid for county commissioner in the 2023 Republican primary — by 11 votes.
But as Rossman notes, the county leans very Republican.
“Looking back at previous elections, the numbers were there to accomplish this," he said.
So, Rossman waged a write-in campaign in the November General Election — and won. While the campaign and outcome may be unusual, it is not unheard of. Neighboring Tioga County has in the past elected three Republicans this way too.
In Pennsylvania, most counties have boards with three commissioners. In the primaries, Democrats and Republicans each nominate two people for the job. Then each voter picks two candidates in the General Election.
Pennsylvania political expert Terry Madonna said historically that means counties get either two Republicans or two Democrats and one from the other party.
"It's very uncommon, because we have, you know, two dominant parties — Democratic and Republican parties — in this state. … And that historically translates into two Democrats, or two Republicans, and then the other party picks up the third seat," Madonna said. "That's the common practice."
But, Madonna said, while what happened in Potter County may be unusual, there's nothing illegal about it.
”Pennsylvania law does not say that you can't have three people from the same party as county commissioners," said Madonna, a senior fellow for political affairs at Millersville University.
According to the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania, of counties with three-member boards, Potter is the only one where all three members for the upcoming term are from the same party.
Key goals for Rossman as a commissioner are attracting businesses and young people to the county.
“I really think that Potter County has a lot to offer," he said.
"We have good folks here and hard workers here, and I think that with a little effort, we should be able to recruit something and, and hopefully get some life-sustaining jobs in our county to keep our young people here," Rossman said.
