Democratic political newcomer Brian Beader's election last month to the Mercer County Board of Commissioners might not have been a surprise to some political pundits. That Beader polled the most votes might have.

The Hermitage resident's nearly 1,000-vote edge over his nearest competitor was the biggest in six elections dating to 1983.

A precinct-by-precinct look at the results reflect Beader's overall dominance; he secured the highest number of votes in 46 of the county's 100 precincts, according to information compiled by Grove City College political science professor Dr. Michael Coulter.

Republican Michele Brooks of Jamestown was the top vote-getter in 26 precincts and tied for the most in another. Despite his loss by 377 votes to three-term Democratic incumbent Olivia Lazor, Republican George Pokrant of Grove City was next with 20 precincts won. Mrs. Lazor of South Pymatuning Township was fourth with seven precincts and another tie for the most. Independent Daniel Berent of Shenango Township won none.

The breakdown of the winners in each of the county's 48 municipalities pretty much reflected the geographic home base of each candidate. Mrs. Brooks prevailed in the northern and northeast portions of the county, taking a high of 20 and tying in a 21st. Beader dominated the county's southwest corner and Pokrant ruled the southeast, each garnering 12 communities. Mrs. Lazor was able to emerge victorious despite being the top vote-getter in only three with a tie in a fourth.

Beader and Pokrant were the only candidates to prevail in their hometowns.

Pokrant was named on 1,050 of the 1,416 ballots cast, or about 74 percent, in Grove City, while Mrs. Lazor was on 24 percent of the ballots. But only 35.1 percent of voters turned out there. So if 760 more people had cast ballots -- bringing the turnout in the borough to a respectable 53.9 percent -- and the percentages held true, Pokrant would have collected 562 more votes and Mrs. Lazor 182, giving Pokrant a net gain of 380 votes, or enough to push him over the top.

Berent polled the least number of votes in every municipality except Jackson Center, where he finished fourth by two votes (9-7) ahead of Beader.

The municipality-by-municipality breakdown, with total number won in parentheses, were:

   » Mrs. Brooks (20è) -- Sugar Grove, Salem, West Salem, Hempfield, Otter Creek, Sandy Creek, Perry, Deer Creek, New Vernon, French Creek, Mill Creek, Sandy Lake, Lake, Fairview Township and Jackson townships and Sandy Lake, Sheakleyville, Stoneboro, New Lebanon (tie), Fredonia and Jackson Center.

   » Beader (12) -- Clark, Hermitage, Sharpsville, Sharon, Farrell, Wheatland, West Middlesex and Shenango, South Pymatuning, Pymatuning, Delaware and Lackawannock townships.

   » Pokrant (12) -- Jefferson, Coolspring, East Lackawannock, Wilmington, Findley, Springfield, Worth, Wolf Creek, Pine and Liberty townships and Grove City and Mercer.

   » Mrs. Lazor (3è) -- Greene Township, Jamestown, Greenville and New Lebanon (tie).

In addition to the candidates' numbers, Coulter compiled turnout percentages for each of the county's municipalities. The overall voter turnout for the election was 40 percent with 28,513 ballots cast of 71,053 registered voters in the county.

The top 10 communities, with percentage of turnout, were:

1. Wheatland, 66.9

2. Worth Township, 66.5

3. Jackson Township, 66.3

4. Sandy Lake Township, 61.4

5. Jamestown, 54.4

6. Greene Township, 53.2

7. Clark, 51.3

8. East Lackawannock Township, 49.3

9. South Pymatuning Township, 47.1

10. Hermitage, 46.6

The bottom 10 were:

1. Wilmington Township, 21.1

2. Sandy Lake, 27.6

3. Lake Township, 29.2

4. New Lebanon, 31.2

5. Stoneboro, 31.6

6. Salem Township, 33.

7. West Salem Township, 33.4

8. Sandy Creek Township, 33.8

9. Findley Township, 34.6

10. Springfield Township, 34.8

Other percentages were: Sharpsville, 45.2; Farrell, 44.8; West Middlesex, 41.1; Mercer, 40.5; Pine Township, 37.9; Shenango Township, 36.9; Greenville, 36.85; Pymatuning Township, 36.6; Sharon, 35.12; and Grove City, 35.08.

You can e-mail Herald Political Writer Jeff Greenburg at jgreenburg@sharonherald.com.