PHOTO INDEX: STATE REPRESENTATIVE FRANK ANDREWS SHIMKUS AND CONGRESSMAN PAUL KANJORSKI.
RIGHT ON, WRITE IN!!!
In a stunning development regarding the race for the 113th Legislative Race, State Rep. Frank Shimkus has pulled within 400 votes of Kevin Murphy for the Democratic nomination to the 113th Legislative District state house seat.
Mr. Shimkus had 7,088 votes to 7,469 for Mr. Murphy, a former Scranton City Council president. Those totals do not include provisional ballots and some absentee ballots. The totals may change as more votes are counted and some major electoral issues are decided. As expected. the ongoing count includes write-in votes cast for "Frank Andrews," a media name used by Mr. Shimkus during his years as a television newscaster on both WNEP TV and WYOU TV and as a newsman and talk show host on WEJL AM Radio in Scranton. He served as anchor in both TV positions. Those votes could be challenged by the opposition. There are reports Shimkus plans to ask for a re canvass of the entire 113th district, said Jim Tierney, an attorney for the Shimkus campaign. The Shimkus campaign believes a number of voters wrote in Mr. Shimkus' name on ballots but neglected to darken the oval next to it, which would prevent the optical scanners from counting the vote. The Shimkus campaign would like those votes counted.
Shimkus was pulled off the ballot in a controversy about where he was living. The Murphy campaign confronted the candidate and did their best to have a Judge knock him off the ballot. Many criticized the Murphy campaign for stalking the representative. Others say Shimkus did himself lasting harm in front of a state judge when his explanation of where he was living strained the credulity of even his most ardent supporters.
Here’s the interesting thing about this. Shimkus has shown some real power in coming within a few hundred votes of Murphy. The wagons began to circle when it was clear Shimkus was in trouble. The Democratic House leadership in Harrisburg, holding on with a precarious 1 vote margin couldn’t afford to lose one of their own. Shimkus got a boatload of money to mount the write in effort. Then there was the Shimkus appeal. He is familiar to most voters and has a way of appearing sincere. I’m not saying he’s not but in the 2006 race, Shimkus beat Janet Evans and Kevin Murphy by person to person contact. This time, with the added drama of being knocked off the ballot, Shimkus went after his core constituency, educated them on the nuances of the write in and has a better than even chance of upsetting Murphy. If he does that, Murphy will be the odd man out since he lost on the GOP side. Both men have their champions, the district was dotted with equal signage of both candidacies and their supporters are vigorous in their defense. But both men also have a core group of people that just don’t like them. Shimkus is constantly criticized for his broadcast career maneuvers while Murphy is not a favorite of city union officials when he cast the deciding vote in declaring Scranton a distressed city. Murphy lost his re-election bid for Council. Both have some flaws but electability too. It appears though from my observations and the comments I’ve heard from people in that district that perhaps Murphy was too clever by half trying to defeat Shimkus legally instead of at the ballot box. With the added clout of the State Dems, his name recognition as the sincere guy in front of the camera (people in the media make the mistake that your average viewer, listener or reader actually cares what goes behind the scenes) and the negative reaction to the way Shimkus was shoved off the ballot, it’s a good possibility he may win the nomination on both tickets. And if he doesn’t, in the fall, Shimkus will prevail and all of this will be political trivia.
KANJO AND GAS
Congressman Kanjorski held a news conference at Phil’s Sunoco on South Main Street in Wilkes Barre this afternoon. The Congressman expressed his outrage about the high gas prices and talked about some legislation that in this election year will go nowhere. But the man did express outrage, joining his constituents in their dismay over high gas prices and obscene corporate profits.
JAILHOUSE ROCK
Luzerne County Prison Board officials suspended Warden Gene Fischi for one week without pay, and to place him and kitchen supervisor Jack Rentko on probation for one year. The board's actions are the result surrounding the controversy of no-bid purchases of food at the prison. San Guesto told them to do it but these guys get suspended. Guesto in the meantime heads the Luzerne County Judiciary as its Administrator. No word on whether he made any comment on this. But this action by the prison board is only a prelude to more investigations into the no bid contracts allowed under the dome.
Let me be the first- As far as Shimkus goes, he got bone on the address thing. If he lived in the district, what's the problem. The election code doesn't deal with living in sin- It's if you are within the boundries. He has a loyal base, is well known. As far as his detractors go, What pol doesn't have warts? There are no big issues at the state level unless the person is a complete moron. Period.
ReplyDeleteKanjo & Gas prices- They all should be in arms. Granted, we don't do enough to conserve, even with the 70's gas crisis that should have been a wake-up call. But, where does the present administration's loyalites lie? We could have done much in mass transportation since then, but "busses" have poor written all over them. That's where local government needs to step in , along with ajoining counties to make routes work. Where the county doesn't belong, and where the state should pick-up, is the prison system. The county prison is not the "drunk tank" it once was- We have major criminals now, requiring big-time management. And, as far as the big deal in the procurment issues at the county, why not start checking out the school boards and how they operate. The so-called people that are running for no-pay positions because they are "concerned" about the children and their education. Bu** Sh**! Check some of those sweetheart deals out, starting with Pittston Area. A group of citizens that worked as federal Govt employees in information technology positions that lived in the Pittston Area SD wanted to baseline the PA district computers & network to see where it stood, but the board "hired" a crony and proceeded with business as usual.
I live in Frank Andrew's District.
ReplyDeleteI believe the guy was trying to be a good representative in his rookie term. He told it straight and went to bat for S.Abington Township Residents in opposition to what would have been a disasterous land development scheme off Layton Road. Yes he made a mistake in judgement, but you are, I think right, he will. win.
Your thoughts on the Shimkus/Murphy race are cogent. As a former newspaper ad guy, we were always concerned with the inside baseball stuff, like who the new sports columnist would be or how the paper was going to look on a particular day. We were the only ones who cared, your regular average Joe just read the paper. That's it. With Shimkus, no matter what his career was like inhouse, most viewers just saw the guy on TV, that's all they knew. And if they liked that guy, that was enuf.
ReplyDeleteGeo W, the King, just noticed the economic problems, but promptly blamed them on Congress.
ReplyDeleteA few weeks ago the possibility of $4.00 a gal gasoline was news to him at a press conference.
How has this moron gotten a pass?
The worst and probably the dumbest
president ever! He hasnt even been a good cheerleader and that was his speciality at Yale.
Please Just Shut Up:
ReplyDeletethe Rev Wright/Wrong
Billary Clinton
Geo W Bush and John McCain
As far as the Shimkus ballot situation is concerned, you should dig deep into seeing why this guy was thrown off the ballot. What the newspaper and Frank himself has been telling you isn't what its all about. This guy is a creep, manipulator, and a liar. One newspaper town that is trying to coverup the truth. Eventually good will prevail.
ReplyDelete