Candidates Gopal Balachandran, Divine Lipscomb, and Richard Biever appear likely to secure the Democratic nominations for State College Borough Council in a tightly contested race.

According to preliminary election results as of 11:25 p.m., Balachandran leads the field of six candidates with 1,534 votes. Lipscomb, a Penn State student, and Biever follow with 1,323 and 1,105 votes, respectively. Incumbent Katherine Yeaple boasts 1,061 votes, while Mayor Ron Filipelli and Catherine Dauler, who’s seeking her fifth term, follow behind with 894 and 808 votes, respectively.

Jacob Werner, who’s collected 466 votes so far, is the only Republican candidate running for council.

The Centre County Elections Office said it’s counted all in-person votes from its 87 precincts, but about 2,000 mail ballots remain to be counted. Processing is set to resume at 11 a.m. Wednesday.

Balachandran is an assistant professor of clinical law at Penn State, while Lipscomb is a Penn State student and father whose campaign focused largely on amplifying voices and promoting racial and economic justice. Biever is a theater company and school owner.

State College elections are nearly always decided in the Democratic primary, so it’s likely these three candidates will be elected to serve on the Borough Council come November.

Results of the primary will become official after they’re certified by the Board of Elections. The certification deadline is June 7.

This year’s general municipal election is slated for November 2. Then, voters could officially elect the newest members of the Borough Council.