Albert knocks off Held in Westmoreland sheriff’s race

By Rich Cholodofsky

Trib Total Media

Jonathan Held, Westmoreland County’s long-embattled sheriff, lost his bid for a third term in office on Tuesday.

Democrat James Albert, a retired Greensburg district judge, defeated the Republican incumbent to bring an end to a tenure marred by a dozen discrimination lawsuits and pending criminal public corruption charges.

With 300 of 305 precincts reporting, Albert had 53% of the vote compared to 47% for Held, according to unofficial results. More than 78,000 votes had been counted in the race.

“It’s kind of obvious the voters were not happy with the sheriff’s office,” Albert said late Tuesday. “I credit the people who helped me. I came out of retirement because of the bad state, the tarnished nature of the sheriff’s office.”

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