Last year, I did an examination of the election of coroners in America (which I recommend you look at before moving forward here). Most Americans may be shocked to learn that the office responsible for dealing with the dead is still an elected PARTISAN position in much the country. The election of this office used to be far more widespread and has slowly been eliminated with time. High-populated areas have moved to the medical examiner system (an un-elected medical expert) while allowing smaller counties to continue electing coroners. Other states use coroners but they are appointed by county boards and other states have eliminated the office all-together. As of last year, the status of electing coroners broke down as follows.

If you are wondering what makes the office of coroner partisan, the answer is nothing. That said, a vast majority of elected coroners are done so on a partisan ballot. The party breakdown actually shows far more Democratic coroners than counties that traditionally back Democrats for top-of-the-ballot offices.

This slew of Trump counties with Democratic coroner’s highlights the down-ballot democratic party strength that existed, and still exists to some degree, in many southern and Appalachian states. States like Mississippi, Alabama, and Kentucky had Democratic legislatures till just a few cycles ago and still have large numbers of local democratic officers. However, many of these local democratic coroners are longtime officials who have not been challenged in years. As seats become open or challengers emerge, the partisan shifts at the top of the ballot begin to move downward. One notable example from my article was a race in Hot Springs County, Arkansas. There, the longtime Democratic coroner was challenged by a far less experienced Republican. In Hot Springs county, where Trump crushed Clinton, the democratic coroner lost by a razor thin margin.

The number of southern coroners aligned to the GOP will likely rise with time as even local races become partisan. Especially has races become open when incumbents retire. There are examples of this “nationalizing” of coroner races that have taken place even since my article – in Pennsylvania.

The 2017 Pennsylvania Coroner Elections

When each county elects its local officers is left to state law. Many do it during Presidential years and others do it in midterms. Other states, like Pennsylvania, allow counties to decide whether to hold local elections in accordance with midterms, Presidential, or in odd-numbered years. A handful of counties in the state opted to hold elections for the county offices in odd years, leading to several races in 2017.

Before these elections, the partisan breakdown of coroner offices in Pennsylvania was seen below. Democrats held some offices in Trump counties while Republicans held others in Clinton counties.

In total, 10 counties held coroner elections in 2017. They broke down as follows

Four GOP-held coroner positions were left unopposed
Two GOP-held coroner positions in deep red counties were challenged but easily held
One Democrat-held coroner position in a deep red county was unopposed
Republicans picked up a coroner office in a Trump county
Democrats picked up two coroner offices in counties that backed Clinton

The coroner offices in Greene, Monroe, and Chester county changed hands. All three had coroners of the opposite party of the way the county voted for President, but flipped in 2017.

I take a look at all three of these races were the party control changed hands.

Monroe County Coroner Race

Monroe County ousted its 26-year GOP incumbent coroner, Bob Allen. Democrat Thomas Yanac, who owns a funeral home and has a mortuary degree, won with over 60% of the vote, far outpacing Clinton’s 49% from a year earlier. The race was shadowed by nasty sexual harassment accusations of former employees against Allen and his wife, who was the deputy coroner. While Yanac didn’t campaign on the accusations (and wrongful termination lawsuit that followed) he did campaign on not hiring friends and family to the office. Yanac’s large win, taking all but a few precincts, likely meant the scandal, whether true or not (as far I can tell the lawsuit is ongoing) soured voters on their incumbent.

That same night Monroe elected a democratic county treasurer by a narrow margin. It was a good night for local democrats, but the margin here definitely seems to be driven by scandal.

Chester County Coroner

Chester County was the site of a major shift in local politics in 2017. This county is part of the suburban Philadelphia market and has long been a GOP stalwart county. The county voted for Obama in 2008, the first time to back a democrat for President since 1964, but then backed Romney in 2012. It backed Clinton by 9 points in 2016 and Trump’s 43% was the worst showing for a GOP candidate for President since 1912! Meanwhile, Republicans controlled the county’s local offices, without exception, since the start of the Democrat-Republican dynamic that began in the 1850s. Since the county’s formation in 1799, no democrat ever won a local office in Chest. In 2017, local democrats made a major push to take control of the four local offices up that cycle: Treasure, Clerk of Courts, Controller, and Coroner. Democrats argued that taking these seats, 4 of the 9 the county elects, would give opposing voices as a seat at the table. Issues didn’t revolve around the job of each office – but rather focused on ending one-party rule in the county. Democrats, galvanized by opposition to President Trump, swept all four offices in a historic local election. In the coroner race, Incumbent Gordon Eck lost to Democrat Christina VandePol, who has a good deal of medical experience and a medical degree.

All four of the offices saw democrats earn between 52% and 54% of the vote. And precinct results mimicked the Presidential ballot from one year earlier. Indeed this race became about local party politics and not about the issues of the office itself. The race was effectively part of a slate.

Greene County Coroner

Greene County is like many counties you see in Appalachia; a white working class voter population that used to be Democratic but has trended Republican in recent decades. Greene County is still majority Democratic in registration and has many local Democratic offices. However, the last time Greene voted Democrat for President was 2000, and Clinton’s 28% was a low-point for the party. The county’s Democratic sheriff and democratic coroner were challenged in 2017. The popular and higher-profile sheriff won easy over a lackluster challenger, but coroner Gregory Rohanna lost re-election by an agonizing EIGHT vote margin. Rohanna had been Coroner since the early 1990s and by all accounts there was no scandal in his office. He lost to Republican Gene Rush, a retired funeral home director, who ran largely on his desire to serve the county. The campaign remained positive.

Rohanna’s loss feels largely like it was aided by partisan leanings. The lower-profile position is much more susceptible to falling on partisan lines than higher-profile local offices like Sheriff. The results look earily similar to Hot Springs, Arkansas – though in this case Rush at least had decades of experience himself.

Future Races

As a result of these elections, the partisan map of Coroner offices in Pennsylvania now looks like this. Three more counties have coroners that are the same party that the county voted for President. Democrats netted 1 coroner slot.

There will be hundreds of races for coroner next week. Many are unopposed but some are growing contentious. Some news searches found some highlights to watch

In Ada County, Idaho – the Democratic coroner is being challenged by a young Republican with no experience. The democrat has received the backing of the last two Republican coroners, who argue experience matters. This county normally votes Republican.
In Franklin County, Washington – Incumbent Dan Blasdel is in an intense and nasty fight with Curtis McGary over what the office contracts out customer service. Both are Republicans.
In Kitsap County, Washington – The two candidates for coroner are at odds over wether to eliminate the office and the country transfer to a medical examiner system.

KUNC radio did a great story on coroner races and the headaches that come with them being a partisan office. AL.com also did a great write-up on the nature of coroners in Alabama and the issues with their election and lack of qualifications needed to run.

Tentative plans are to examine the races that will take place next week and do a follow-up NEXT Halloween! See you then.