The LuLac Edition #3764, April 23rd, 2018

GOP CHALLENGERS TO CARTWRIGHT TO DEBATE THIS WEEK

The three Republican candidates running for the chance to take on Matt Cartwright will debate Thursday, May 3, at the Moskovitz Theater at the DeNaples Center at 7pm.
Joe Peters, of Scranton, a former state deputy attorney general, political commentator on WNEP, former radio host and Scranton policeman, John Chrin, a very credible and experienced Wall Street executive who is from Northampton County and Robert Kuniegel, of Spring Brook Twp are all vying for the chance to take on the three term incumbent. Cartwright is unopposed as a Democrat in the new 8th.
The debate might serve to separate the three candidates and bring a front runner to the fore.  The operative word there is “might” folks. Debates give those attending the facts they need or the chance to show their selected candidate that the attendee is behind him all the way. In many cases, they rarely move the needle.
But this race is going to be a tug of war in my view. Joe Peters is a known quantity. He narrowly missed winning statewide office in the early 2000s and last ran for Attorney General. His base is Lackawanna County but that GOP organization is pretty pathetic there, especially in Scranton. As a TV analyst on WNEP and WNEP2 he is a known well personality. Plus his association with his dad, Gene Peters, who is still revered as a truly successful Mayor in the 70s can’t hurt him. The question is can he reach the Republican areas of Pike and Wayne County with a message with the funds he has.
Why we pose that question is because John Chrin, the Wall Street Executive is spending a lot of money to get his message out. Plus he has been knocking on doors, getting his own signatures in many cases to meet people and is running an energetic effort to connect with as many hard core primary voters as possible. Chrin has the backing of the powerful and active 120th District Republicans. He has made visits to LuLac land in the last few weeks.
Last evening he was in Wyoming at the famous Avenue Diner for a meet and greet with enthusiastic supporters. Chrin wants to make it to the general to contest Matt Cartwright in the fall. But for the primary it is a big unknown whether Pike and Wayne can pull him through.His people seem to think that and so does he.
A third candidate is Robert Kuniegel who has been running ads since last year. He’s from Springbrook Township and is a retired state corrections officer. He’s running on being a native from the district, doing Electronic Town Hall meetings and is asking for a national Polygraph test for government employees. His concern is blackmail. This from his website. We should offer every paid employee an opportunity to voluntarily be drug tested & undergo a polygraph test and ask them if they have done anything that could be considered not ethical, that could be used to control the way they vote, this would take care of those that are being blackmailed. Blackmailing politicians is a sophisticated industry and we can no longer put our national security at risk. Kunigiel is talking about draining the swamp and is running against Hillary Clinton. From his websiite, here's a retweet that caught my eye.  Robert J Kuniegel Retweeted Dinesh D'Souza
If someone went back to HRC being fired from the Watergate investigation to present day, add up all the billable hours spent investigating her actions what kind of $'s would there be? Where there is smoke there is fire. This is one of the most corrupt political figures ever.
Okay, but that kind of begs the question that what does that have to do with Chrin, Peters and Cartwright? If he brings this stuff up in the debate, then we have a two way race between Chrin and Peters.
The debate is this week.
Meanwhile here are links from Kuniegel and Chrin on Sam Lesante’s Show on the Public Access station from Hazleton.These shows were taped when both men thought they were running in the 17th but worth the watch.



Plus here’s a radio ad from Joe Peters.

Here are a few scenes from last night’s event in Wyoming with John Chrin that included one of the best State Representatives from this area, EVER, Aaron Kaufer. The GOP party faithful were out in full force. State committee people like Steve Urban, Lynette Villano, Laurie Vandermark and Bill Lewis were around pressing the flesh. Former Chair Bill Urbanski and State Senator Lisa Baker attended too. The event was put together by 120th District Chair P.J. Pribula. More than 80 people packed The Avenue on a beautiful Sunday night when they could have been doing something else. 

 State Representative Aaron Kaufer is seen with 8th District candidate for Congress John Chren and former Luzerne County Council member and current State Committee member Steve Urban. 

Had a chance to chat with Justin Beherns who is running in the 119th against Gerald Mullery. Last time he came close and this time might be the charm. He's having an event in White Haven on May 5th to honor veterans. We'll share more on that later this week. 

John Chrin was at the tail end of a busy day. The candidate for 8th District for Congress was in 5 counties earlier in the day.  Chrin said that the fight for the 8th in the General would be one of the most important races nationally.

 120th District Chair P.J. Pribula put together the spring event at The Avenue. Pribula has been a virtual force of nature since becoming involved in GOP politics. Pribula  told the group that he felt the Trump wave of 2016 was not over in Pennsylvania. Citing his interactions as a contractor, he claimed that there was a quiet wave out there that would work to the advantage of the Republican party. He cited the booming economy and stock market, more money in worker's paychecks as well as what he called the historic news from North Korea.  

On guns, I know he was playing to this roomful of Republicans when he spoke of the Second Amendment. Saying that Democrats wanted to get rid of the guns via the Amendment, well that's where he took a sideways turn. I understand the belief of the party on this but no Democratic President, Johnson, Carter, Clinton and Obama ever took action against the Second Amendment. Furthermore, if those red states couldn't ratify the ERA, Equal Rights Amendment for women, (it takes all 50 states to obtain or get rid of an amendment) then they sure as hell wouldn't stand a chance to get rid of any guns or the Second Amendment. 

But I digress. 

Pribula, a personal friend of GOP front runner for Governor Scott Wagner spoke of the bitter primary fight and very tough campaign ads between Wagner and Paul Mango. He made the point that after the primary, the party has to unite and put aside differences to pry the Governor's office away from Tom Wolf. 

Pribula then asked people in the room to raise their hands if, like he, they were former Democrats, a number of hands went up. 

That seemed to be a significant factor in the hopes of John Chrin and his aforementioned opponents running  in the 8th to turn the newly reformed district red from blue. 

It will be a tough nut to crack but people in that room last night are going to go to every length to see if they could make that happen. 

(Photos: Mrs. LuLac, your blog editor)