The LuLac Edition #4 609, November 1st, 2021

 

ELECTION 2021 

THE GENERAL 

 

Here’s a recap of the 2021 Municipal General election. This race has been fairly quiet after the tumult of 2020 but it has always been our contention that local races are more important. Sad to say, many voters will not agree with that and the turnout will be light. But there are important races. 

 

THE STATE 

SUPREME COURT

Currently the Democrats have control of the Supreme Court and given the allegations of a stolen election by some elements of the fringe people in the state, thank God. This race though is a barometer on what may happen statewide in 2022. 

 

DEMOCRAT 

MARIA MCLAUGHLIN D

Maria McLaughlin is running a steady race. She is vibrant and much schooled in Judicial matters. With a Democratic registration edge and her frequent trips across the state, she will be formidable. But turnout is everything.  She currently is a Superior Court Judge.   

 

REPUBLICAN           

KEVIN BROBSON R

Brobson is President Judge of the  Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court and is running a very dirty campaign. Why a President Judge who was censured for his political activity in this race would get down in the mud and attack his opponent is beyond me. But sometimes desperation might override one’s qualifications. Still he is in contention  because of the GOP lockstep mentality in supporting anyone with an R after their name. 

 

PENNSYLVANIA SUPERIOR COURT 

 

 DEMOCRAT

TIMIKA LANE D

Lane has been a frequent visitor to LuLac land and has run a very good campaign. She has been recommended by legal experts in the state and would be a voice that is needed on the Court. She has been a Common Pleas Judge since 2014. 

 

REPUBLICAN

MEGAN SULLIVAN R

Megan Sullivan  is the Republican nominee. Sullivan has served as a deputy attorney general since 2017. Prior to joining the attorney  general’s office, Sullivan worked as an attorney for Chester County, West Chester University, and two private firms.

 

COMMONWEALTH COURT

DEMOCRATS

LORI DUMAS D

Lori Dumas, a Democrat who has been on the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas for more than 18 years, primarily in the juvenile division.

DAVID STURGEON D

David Spurgeon, a Democrat who serves on the Allegheny County Common Pleas Court, and before that served for nearly two decades as assistant district attorney, and then deputy district attorney for the county.

 

REPUBLICANS

ANDREW CROMPTON R

Andrew Crompton, the incumbent, is first and foremost a political hack.  A Harrisburg-area Republican who, unlike most judicial hopefuls, has an explicitly political background. He spent 26 years working for the Senate, and most recently was former Republican Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati’s right-hand man, serving as chief of staff and caucus counsel. Crompton played a key role in Republicans’ efforts to overturn the state Supreme Court’s 2018 congressional map redrawing. Among other things, he helped draft the Senate’s unsuccessful attempt to appeal the map to the U.S Supreme Court.

STACEY WALLACE R

Stacy Wallace, a Bradford area attorney running as a Republican, runs her own private practice. She served as a clerk for the Superior Court.  

 

NUMBERS MATTER 

42 vs 12 

Most people have no idea who these judges are. The best criteria though is to count on experience. That's where the numbers come in. The Democrats have 42 years of experience vs the 12 for the Republicans. 

 

THE LU

 

LUZERNE COUNTY COMMON PLEAS JUDGE

ALEXANDRA KOKURA KRAVITZ D

This race pits Kokura Kravitz, a two term Magistrate in the Pittston Area vs. State Representative Tara Toohil. Kokura Kravitz has been a mainstay on the campaign trail, and has done door to door as well as Meet and Greets across the county. Her campaign has been wise enough to set up their own events and get people to them to meet her. Gone are the old days when the party conducted such campaign stops.  If Democrats come out for her, the registration edge as well as her relentless energy and broad support will carry her through. 

 

TARAH TOOHIL REPUBLICAN R

Tarah Toohil is a formidable opponent though for two reasons.

1.       She has great political instincts and as a 10 year state Representative is well known. Plus she has a very good chance of almost getting the entire southern Luzerne County vote.

2.        Her campaign has been mainly grass roots but she has received funding from her legislative friends in Harrisburg that has helped with her paid messaging. But Toohil’s greatest advantage is the single mindedness of Republican voters who will come out and vote for their people only. There is no No deviation to the other side whatsoever. Because of those factors this will be a very close race.  

 

STEFANIE SALAVANTIS DEM. REP

The former DA is running unopposed in this race but I’m hearing intriguing things from women professionals that are interesting tidbits to ponder. Some women voters are going for both Kokura Kravitz as well as Toohil (remember you can vote for only two candidates.) If enough people think that way, Salavantis can lose votes. even though this is unlikely to upset the Salavantis juggernaut it might have an impact. To those who might say this will never happen, let me leave you with these 4 words, “only in Luzerne County."

 

RETENTION RACES FOR JUDGE

Richard M. Hughes, Lesa S. Gelb, Fred A. Pierantoni III, Jennifer L. Rogers, Joseph F. Sklarosky Jr. and Michael T. Vough — marked the start of a new era for the county judiciary, which in 2011 was still recovering from the kids-for-cash scandal and an ensuing countywide corruption probe.All but Hughes won double nominations in that year. Hughes went on to best Molly Hanlon Marabito in the General. Here's how their vote totals looks in the primary 10 years ago.
The Lu Lac Political Letter: The LuLac Edition #1603, May 18th, 2011 (lulacpoliticaletter.blogspot.com)

Their performance has been competent and uneventful. All have been good stewards of the Judiciary and have done incredible work at the start of their terms attacking the backlog of cases that accumulated during the judicial scandals that preceded them.

A vote yes is warranted. 

 

DISTRICT ATTORNEY

SAM SANGUEDOLCE R

 Sam Sanguedolce currently serves as the District Attorney. He is a graduate of the University of Scranton where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics. Sam went on to graduate from the Dickinson School of Law of the Pennsylvania State University where he obtained his Juris Doctorate. In 2002, Sam joined the District Attorney’s Office as an Assistant District Attorney concentrating mostly on criminal prosecutions involving drug trafficking and firearms-related offenses.

Throughout his career as a prosecutor, Sam has handled approximately fifty (50) jury trials with over a dozen homicides, including being lead prosecutor in the infamous case of Commonwealth v. Hugo Selenski where the prosecuting team obtained a double homicide conviction.

Sam’s career is personal to me. He successfully prosecuted the Deejay MO (Michael Onley) murderers and brought them to justice. Mike was a coworker of mine and I saw firsthand the pain his own family and work family experienced with that senseless  killing

Sam is unopposed but still making the rounds at political events. 

 

LUZERNE COUNTY COUNCIL

This race is crucial for Democrats because they lost ground in the 2019 election. The charter has enabled Republicans to do something they never could before, win county executive elections via a council. While the two parties have teams, voters will not necessarily support the whole roster. The reason is that with 5 seats open and 10 candidates running plus one write in participant, that diversity will show some cracks in any organized party wall.

The danger for Democrats is again the solidarity and money of the GOP vs. the Democrats. 

DEMOCRATS

Incumbents Democrats Matthew Vough, and Sheila Saidman, are joined by former Council member Jane Walsh Waitkus, and newcomers Maryann V. Velez and Jimmy Sabatino.

Vough,  Saidman and Walsh Waitkus have the 2 Rs in their favor. Records and recognition. Velez and Sabatino bring diversity and added energy. But the real question will be can all of them prevail in this multi  candidate field with a GOP line up  that essentially will have no crack in  their own solid base. 

REPUBLICANS 

 Although the Republicans bring one incumbent to the dance, Chris Perry, they are joined by Greg Wolovich who has run county wide before and has gained respect and name recognition, John Lombardo has been making a good run, is confident and sincere on the trail and can get support from the Pittston Area. Both Brian Thornton and Kevin Lescavage are running good campaigns and have added radio advertising to their effort. The ads feature both as a team. With this component factoring in…..along with Write in Martin Dartoe’s radio spots, will it help the GOP or hurt their chances? 

In this race, the GOP doesn’t need a sweep but just two seats to control Council

The County Council even though partisan in nature has taken on the characteristics of a bi partisan commission that seems to encourage independent choices instead of straight party line voting.

For the political nerds like me this will be interesting to watch.

LUZERNE COUNTY CONTROLLER

MICHELE BEDNAR D

Bednar is going for her last term. According to the charter she is term limited. For the last eight years she has performed her duties well. Her campaign befits her personality. Drama free competence and excellent customer service. Unlike some controllers of the past, Steve Flood comes to mind, she sees the job as the charter guidelines indicated.  Accomplishments include three audits that recouped $203,000 in unjustified homestead tax exemptions taken by property owners. There was  another that identified 30 county employees who received dental coverage without paying the required premiums and a third that resulted in the collection of $13,000 in unpaid hotel taxes. The worst thing any government entity can do is leave money on the table; Bednar did not let that hoppen.

Her success or failure to get a third term will depend on turnout. Even though well known, her opponent Walter Griffith has bee around longer and louder.

WALTER GRIFFITH R

This well-known political entity Walter Griffith is running to reclaim his old seat. Griffith has been active for over twenty years and was a former Controller. Griffith wants to expand the role of the office and launch investigations (if needed) into problems that may arise at the County. As an example he would look into issues about inmates at the Prison as well as reports about irregularities at Children and Youth. While the role of the “watch dog” is something he relishes and does well, voters will have to decide if they want this office holder to expand the role not in the charter.

Griffith’s strength and weakness is the fact that he was the County Controller. He was aggressive in his term 12 years ago when that was the era when County government was reeling from the judicial scandals. That time has passed and one wonders if the voters want the calm of the Bednar style or the aggression of the Griffith methods in expanding the duties of the office. 

While the Democrats have the edge in registration, the GOP has been steadily making inroads. This race will be based on two things. Turnout and how voters perceive the vastly different personalities of these two candidates.

  

THE LAC

COMMON PLEAS COURT JUDGE

MARY WALSH-DEMPSEY D

Mary Walsh Dempsey is the Democratic candidate for Judge of Common Peas. She touts thirty years of experience, has been President of the Lackawanna County Bar Association and is a former Assistant DA. She has the solid backing of the Democratic Party and the registration lead that goes along with that. Experts say this might be an easy ride for her.

NISHA ARORA R

Nisha Arora might have something to say about Dempsey’s ride. She has been running an aggressive campaign touting the fact that her candidacy and election would be a nod to the changing demographic in Scranton as well as LuLac land. In both counties there are no minorities on the bench. Her election would be a regional breakthrough. However her website is short on details about her legal experience as opposed to a   long narrative about her parent’s journey to the United States and how that shaped her life. Admirable.  There is support for her candidacy as well as the recognition that someone of a different ethnicity should be on the court. That aspect will be weighed against her stated experience as a law clerk and Family Law Attorney. Voters in The Lac will have to decide if that experience is warranted enough to change history or not.

113th LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT 

DEMOCRAT 

TOM WELBY  

Welby currently serves as Chief of Staff in the office that was held by Marty Quinn who moved up to State Senator. He has years of community experience and has a broad range of support.

 

REPUBLICAN 

DOMINIC MANETTI 

Manetti has been active in the community but as a Republican I can't see him overcoming the restriction edge the Dems have in the 113th.

 

DISTRICT ATTORNEY

MARK POWELL D-R

In 2017 Mar Powell broke the GOP decades long stronghold on the office. Powell’s performance earned him a double nomination with no opposition.  

 

SHERIFF

MARK P. McANDREW 

Mark P. McAndrew the Democrat is up against Glenn Capman. McAndrew has held the office of Sheriff without incident and should be an easy winner

 

RECORDER OF DEEDS

 

EVIE REFALKO McNULTY 

Evie Rafalko McNulty is up for re-election and is virtually assured of another term. 

 

REGISTER OF WILLS

 FRAN KOVELSKI D

Fran Kovaleski faces off against the GOP’s April Jenkins.  Turnout will be the key in this race. 

APRIL JENKINS R 

Jenkins has to hope that her party does straight voting for the entire GOP team in order for her to have a chance in this race. 

 

SCRANTON MAYOR 

DEMOCRAT 

PAIGE COGNETTI 

Mayor Cognetti has implemented much needed policy change in the city. She will breeze to a full four year term. 

REPUBLICAN 

DARWIN LEE SHAW 

Shaw is fighting the good fight but cannot overcome the Democratic registration numbers and name recognition that his opponent has in her tool box.  His name though sounds like that of a Mayor in a novel though.