Candidates Deanna Behring, Jesse Barlow, Janet Engeman, and Peter Marshall won the Democratic primary election for State College Borough Council in a tightly contested race Tuesday.

Behring led the field of seven candidates with 1,617 votes (21.73%). Barlow and Engeman followed with 1,306 votes (17.55%) each, and Marshall secured the final spot with 1,118 votes (15.02%). Incumbent Dave Brown finished just behind Marshall with 995 votes (13.37%).

Behring is an assistant dean in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences. She’s lived in the borough for 19 years with her husband and two daughters.

Barlow was first elected in 2015 and is now seeking a second term. He is a professor of computer science and engineering at Penn State and has lived in the area since 1981 and in the borough since 2003.

Engeman is seeking a second term on Borough Council. She was previously a labor market analyst for the New Jersey Department of Labor, worked on multiple projects with Applied Data Research and Mathematica Policy Research, and fought against a number of local issues including the proposed Penn State/Columbia Gas pipeline. She ran for mayor in 2017, but did not advance past the primary election.

Marshall served as the State College Borough Manager before his retirement in 2003. He’s also served as Borough Manager or an outside consultant for a number of other college towns.

State College local elections are nearly always decided in the Democratic primary, so it’s likely these four candidates will be elected to serve on the Borough Council. Lynn Herman was the only candidate on the Republican ticket. Results of the primary will become official after they’re certified by the Board of Elections.

Rising junior Tom Dougherty and recent graduate Jackson Fitzgerald rounded out the results with 801 votes (10.76%) and 254 votes (3.41%), respectively, as the drought of an undergraduate student making it past the primaries continues.

This year’s general municipal election is slated for November 5, when residents will have the opportunity to officially elect the newest members of the State College Borough Council.