There were seven candidates on the ballot May 21 for the one available seat on the Lehigh County Court of Common Pleas.

In an unofficial tally from the Lehigh County Voter Registration Office, Anna-Kristi Morffi Marks came out on top on both the Democrat and Republican tickets for the 10-year term on the bench.

On the Republican ticket, Tom Capehart, however, was only an unofficial 394 votes behind with 3,563 votes (26.83 percent) to Morffi Marks’ 3,957 votes, 29.80 percent of the vote.

On the Democrat side of the ballot, Capehart garnered an unofficial 982 votes, 5.86 percent of the vote to Morffi Marks’ 4,322 votes, 25.79 percent of the votes.

Zachary Cohen was just behind Morffi Marks receiving an unofficial 4,100 votes, 24.46 percent of the vote.

Morffi Marks of South Whitehall is a Lehigh County Senior Deputy District Attorney.

Initially, she handled a general criminal case docket comprised of drugs, thefts, forgery and burglary cases. She then was assigned violent crimes including robberies and aggravated assaults. Her general conviction rate is over 97 percent.

Currently, she is assigned to the special victims unit.

In this unit, her jury trials include a cold case baby homicide, rapes of children, stalking, aggravated assaults, indecent assaults on children, endangering the welfare of children and corruption of minors.

Raised in the Lehigh Valley, she attended St. Catharine’s of Siena and Parkland High School where she played on the golf team.

She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and Latin American Studies at the University of Delaware. She earned her law degree from Touro Law Center on Long Island, N.Y.

Morffi Marks says she helped establish the John Van Brakle Child Advocacy Center at the Lehigh Valley Children’s Hospital, Lehigh Valley Health Network and she teaches legal topics to law enforcement cadets at the Allentown Police Academy.

She and her husband, Michael Marks, chief of Whitehall Township Police Department, have two children.