A Port Carbon attorney defeated the county’s district attorney in the battle to become the next Court of Common Pleas judge.

Republican Bill Burke, a Pottsville Area High School graduate who earned degrees from the University of Scranton and Thomas M. Cooley Law School, defeated Michael O’ Pake, who was a former law clerk in the Schuylkill County Court of Common Pleas.

The margin was 19,625 unofficial votes for Burke to 14,126 votes for O’Pake.

Burke, who will fill retired Judge William Baldwin’s seat on the bench, has been in private practice for 32 years. He is also a staff attorney for Schuylkill County Office of Senior Services and the Schuylkill County Recorder of Deeds. Burke has been an assistant public defender, former assistant district attorney and municipal solicitor.

Burke said last week, “A judge confronts a multitude of issues in various legal areas similar to that of a general practitioner.”

He cited his interaction with the public as providing “the temperament, experience, and judge of character necessary for service.”