2017 Election results-Luzerne County Controller

The top  race in Luzerne County was for the Controller position between incumbent  Michelle Bednar (D) and former Controller Walter Griffith (R). I was surprised that no other Republican ran in the primary considering Walter's baggage about the wiretap thing and his aggressive style.

In an interview with the Citizens Voice he promised to be a kinder, gentler Walter. Yeah right, the Walter I know is at his at his best when he is being a pain in the ass. I mean that in a good way. The message from his campaign was that he would be a watchdog, not a lapdog. So much for the kinder thing.

Michelle ran the campaign on her accomplishments without running to the press every time she found a problem but worked for a solution.  She refused to criticize her opponent when given the chance. From the CV:  Bednar declined to offer an opinion on Griffith, who resigned as controller in 2013 as part of a plea agreement in a wiretapping case.
“I would leave that to the voters,” she said. “That’s their choice.”

The Result:

Bednar       24,458  54%
Griffith       20,609  46% 

Michelle Bednar for Controller 2017

Incumbent Democratic Luzerne County Controller had a nice gathering of supporters at Bentley's on Friday. It attracted a nice crowd including a few Republicans including District Attorney Stephanie Salavantis. The Democratic Party heavyweights State Reps. Eddie Day Pashinski , Jerry Mullery and State Sen. John Yudichak sang her praises. Her campaign team touted her accomplishments including weeding out incorrect homestead tax breaks wrongly granted to some Luzerne County property owner. Her opponent Walter Griffith  had received the break on two homes and an auto repair business he owns.

Democratic County Council candidates Wendy Cominsky, Matt Vough and John Gadomski  offered their support and Republican Chris Perry showed up. Perry has been to almost every event D or R I've been to. He is running hard.

Other notables were Judge David Lupas who is up for retention and George Brown who should have been the Mayor of W-B. I asked Judge Lupas about mandatory minimums and he gave me a  lawyers answer saying they could act as a deterrent but Judges should be able to fit the punishment to the crime.

                                          


Luzerne County sending bills to recipients of incorrect homestead tax break