New Luzerne County GOP chairman

In a bit of a surprise Kingston attorney Bill Urbanski was elected as Luzerne County Republican chairman defeating incumbent Terry Casey 79-72 at the party convention Sunday at Genetti's.


Casey was elected in 2008 succeeding Lynette Vilano. and it's fair to say that his record has been more hits than misses. In 2007 the Luzerne County Republicans lost EVERY contested county election. Their only winner that year was Steve Urban because one Republican had to be on the board of commissioners. His first move was hiring Renita Fennick as executive director who was able to deal with the various factions and got people to work together. A year round headquarters was opened in downtown Wilkes-Barre with space donated by a real estate outfit and he got the back mountain money boys to kick in some bucks to pay for it all. It paid off in the 2009 county elections when the Republicans won 2 out 3 of the Row Offices up that year. In 2010 the focus was getting Lou Barletta elected to Congress that was helped by the national wave.

Elections for the county council under the new Home Rule form of government was on the ballot in 2011 and the Republicans snagged 4 of the 11 seats and Stefanie Salavatis knocked off DA JAckie Mo. Not bad for a party that has been on the outside for a long time with a significant deficit in registrations.

 But some Republicans said they should have done better after all the corruption that has seen a slew of Democrats go to jail. Some have complained that the county party didn't help out municipal candidates enough particularly in Wilkes-Barre but that is not the focus of the county party.

The county Republicans haven't been able to fill all of the committee spots and got a big black eye when a race hater wrote himself in for one of them.One of my Republican friends said it was not a priority to recruit county committee members but 6th District honcho James O'Meara said he tried his best to get people to sign up without much success.

Bill Urbanski sounds like a Republican populist if there is such a thing CV: "My vision is simple: do away with unnecessary expenditures and bureaucracies and build a more inclusive county Republican Party," Urbanski said. "Too often committee members and even average voters feel as though they are on the outside looking in, or what may be worse, on the bottom looking up. In my mind, the contributions made by the rank-and-file members of the GOP are just as important as the contributions made by those in positions of power."

It looks like Kingston Mayor Jim Haggerty is the next coming of Marty Murray on the Republican side. He wrote the Home Rule Charter and now this.  "Winning the Republican county election is proof of your grassroots ability," Haggerty said.

Bill's brother posted this picture  :

Update: James O'Meara corrects me in the comments..

Actually, Gort, this year we were successful in the 6th getting new committee members. We have filled 8 of 10 slots in Plains, for example, and I will find people for the other two slots. It was similar throughout the rest of the 6th District. Recruiting those slots is a primary duty of a District Chair, so the empty slots ...and the responsibility to fill them ...are my responsibility.

Reaction to White supremacist wins write-in for Luzerne County GOP Committee

CV: Bob Kolankoski, chairman of the committee's third district, says it's being blown way out of proportion.

"Anyone can be written in," Kolankoski said. "He's a crackpot. He's one guy. What can he do?"

TL:  Luzerne County GOP Chaiman Terry Casey said Friday he was unaware of Smith’s background and does not know what the party’s position will be until he discusses it with the executive committee.

“I don’t think the party ever faced this kind of situation before. It will be a matter for the executive committee and the committee people to decide,” he said.

Casey said, even if the executive committee decided it wanted to remove Smith, he does not know if it would have the power to do so because he was elected to the position

STATEMENT OF THE LUZERNE COUNTY DEMOCRATIC COMMITTEE ON THE ELECTION OF STEVE SMITH:

Much news has been made today regarding the election of Steve Smith to the Luzerne County Republican Committee.

Committee members can be influential in local politics, and you can quickly rise up the ranks to sit on an Executive Committee of either party, which frequently can put you in the same room with  State Senators and Representatives, District Attorneys, local Mayors, party nominees, movers and shakers, even members of Congress. Steve's Smith's expedited path to access Republican officials is quite disturbing.

However, it is really not the fault of the Republican Committee that he was elected. Without a candidate listed on the ballot who had gone through the petition process, write in candidates for committee offices only need a minimal amount of support to win. He got three votes: Steve Smith obviously does not represent the Luzerne County Republican Party in any way, shape, or form.

I'm sure we have all read Steve Smith's letters to the editor in local papers, filled with pure hate, against anyone who doesn't fit into his world view. In fact, I find find his views abhorrent on a very deep and personal level. As far as I can tell, I don't believe there is a mechanism for removing a committee person from either party from their position, as they were voted on by the public and those results certified by the election board. However, there are ways to minimize him over the course of his term, so that his election will have a negligible impact. We sincerely hope that the Republicans find a way to quarantine any political ambitions Steve Smith may have. No white supremacist should be anywhere near the inner workings of any party in Luzerne County.

The Democrats have no intention to bring Steve Smith up again because, frankly, his election isn't merely a political embarrassment for the Republicans, it's an embarrassment for the entire county. Speaking about Steve Smith not only distracts us from real issues, it legitimizes him and gives him more attention (something I'm sure he craves), and frankly he is making other Republican committee persons across Luzerne County who work hard and care about their country and their communities look bad.

We would rather speak on jobs and the economy, social justice and equal rights, and an America where everyone has a fair shot to succeed. 

So, don't give Steve Smith what he wants: this will be our first, last, and only word on the subject.

Casey Evans

Spokesperson for the Luzerne County Democratic Committee

Chairman, 2nd District

Mr. Smith defends himself.

Smith said Friday said he decided to seek the committee position after he saw there were no candidates for the post, and he would fight any effort to remove him.

“I’m community-minded and wanted to get my foot in the door,” ....“This is not a powerful position. I don’t know why everyone is getting their panties in a bunch,” ....“Everybody has a past. I made mistakes. You learn from your mistakes and move on,” he said.

The headline flying around the lefty blogs implies that this guy won an election in our little corner of the world. He did no such thing. He wrote himself in for an office nobody else was contesting and got exactly 1 vote, his own. Luzerne County maybe the most corrupt place in the country but we don't elect racist in contested elections.





Looking at the list of winners for the county Republican Committee on the Luzerne County website there are a lot of blank spaces. PoliticsPA observed It’s a cautionary tale for every county committee: fill those vacant committee seats, or others will fill them for you.






A local GOP insider told me There was no concentrated effort to fill vacant committee spots.... at the last exec meeting a couple weeks ago we didn't even know who won the open spots.

White supremacist wins write-in for Luzerne County GOP Committee

This is making national news but it's not what it appears to be.

Think Progress:  Republicans in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania have elected Steve Smith, a lifelong white supremacist with close ties to neo-Nazi groups and groups like Aryan Nations, to the county’s GOP Committee.

HATEWATCH has more on his background:
Recruited into the neo-Nazi movement while he was stationed at Fort Bragg in the 1990s, Smith, of Pittston, Penn., has been active in an extraordinary array of white nationalist, skinhead, and neo-Nazi groups, including American Third Position, Keystone United (formerly Keystone State Skinheads), and the Council of Conservative Citizens. He is a former Aryan Nations member and former leader of the Philadelphia chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of White People, which was created by former Klan leader David Duke but is no longer associated with him. Smith also belongs to a Pennsylvania-based group called the European American Action Coalition (EAAC), which according to its website was formed in fall 2011 “by a few well known White activists in the great and historic state of Pennsylvania.”


He has had letters to the editor published in the local newspapers and was convicted in 2003 of ' beating up Antoni Williams, a black man, using stones and chunks of pavement. Smith pleaded guilty to terrorist threats and ethnic intimidation and received a 60-day sentence and probation.'

Now for what TP and SPLC didn't cover in this story.

Steve Smith didn't appear on the primary ballot and there were only 3 write-in votes for Republican committeeman in Ward 4 of Pittston according to the election results posted on the Luzerne County website. 2 slots are allotted to that ward and another person won the other one. As far as I can tell he wrote himself in and won the election because of apathy. I talked to a few of my Republican friends tonight and they are appalled that this has happened denying any knowledge of this person. They wouldn't go on the record telling me any official statement should come from County Chairman Terry Casey.

Welcome home Renita

I was bit surprised that former Luzerne County Republican Party Executive Director Renita Fennick went to work for Tom Marino after the 2010 election instead of Lou Barletta. That has been rectified.

HAZLETON – U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta, PA-11, announced that Renita Fennick will become his district director on Monday, April 9.
“Renita brings a wealth of local knowledge and regional experience to my office, and I’m pleased to welcome her to my team,” Rep. Barletta said. “I’ve known Renita for many years. She is committed and dedicated to improving the lives of people in Northeastern Pennsylvania, and I think she will make an excellent district director.”
Fennick leaves the office of U.S. Rep. Tom Marino (PA-10), where she served as communications director since January 2011. She worked at the Citizens’ Voice and Times Leader newspapers in Wilkes-Barre, and was city editor of the Times Leader until 2009, when she left to accept a position as executive director of the Luzerne County Republican Party.

I think Renita did a good job as the local GOP front person and chief organizer. She and Chairman Terry Casey were able to smooth over the factionalism dealing with difficult personalities and helped the Republicans win 2 of the 3 row offices that year. In the 2010 election she was a big booster of Barletta helping him win Luzerne County and the district. Like many of our local politicos she has attended Blogfest and we hope to see her again next Friday along with her new boss and his press guy.

Fennick leaves Marino’s office to work for Barletta

Marino spokeswoman joins Barletta's staff

Local GOP victory lap

Luzerne County Republicans will host a Victory Party from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 11, at Genetti Hotel & Conference Center, 77 E. Market St., Wilkes-Barre.
Special guests are Congressmen-Elect Lou Barletta, 11th District, and Tom Marino, 10th District... For more information go to the website, http://luzernegop.org/

They are rightly crowing about helping to put the statewide and congressional candidates over the top but the real story is what is happening in the down ballot races. In 2008 the Republicans didn't have one candidate run against the 5 incumbent Democratic State Representatives in Luzerne County. This time around they put up a full slate and were very competitive in the 119th and 120th districts and even knocked off the the Democratic House leader in the 116th although I think that had more to do with Todd Eachus getting beat up by the local papers for flying around on Robert Powell's jet than the merits of Tarah Toohill. But a win is a win. Last year they won 2 of the 3 county row offices after losing every contest in 2007.

Three things have helped change their fortunes. The election of Terry Casey as chairman of the party, the hiring of Renita Fennick as Executive Director and the financial backing of a few donors that always gave money to state and federal GOP candidates but usually skipped the local elections or gave to Democrats because that is where the smart money went.

The back mountain money boys have made it possible to have a full time, year round campaign office in Wilkes-Barre with Renita operating the nuts and bolts. From what I'm told Casey has been a good recruiter and has been able to smooth over the internal divisions of the various factions and got them to work toward a common goal.

For all the hand ringing over the lack of guaranteed minority representation in the new Luzerne County Home Rule Charter it looks like the Republicans will win some seats.

On to 2011.

More complaints from Carolee

Picking up where she left off in her first term as Prothonotary Carolee Medico Olenginski last week was complaining about the rug in her office.

Now she is upsetting the new found unity of the Luzerne County Republican Party saying the organization should not take credit for her election and wants her pictures removed from the new county GOP website. I lifted both of them from the site. She complains that some people couldn't attend the Michael Steele event because they didn't pony up $50 to join the Club GOP. “A lot of people agree with me...A lot of people who have been very active with the Republican Party couldn’t afford to go see Michael Steele that night,” Olenginski said. “To me, that’s wrong. If you’re trying to build a strong party, everyone should be welcome; if you’re trying to build something, you shouldn’t put up walls to keep people out.” She also is upset with the lack of financial support from the party. Controller-elect Walter Griffith said “Honestly, I don’t think the party has much money to hand out yet. But they did step up and helped me and Carolee, as well.”

Chairman Terry Casey pointed out “If she was unable to attend our functions, we always spoke on her behalf; we did what we could for her.” I can attest to that. She was a no show at the Operation HEART kickoff and Executive Director Renita Fennick sang her praises.

.

No word of what she thinks of the decor of the party HQ in W-B. It's going to be a fun 4 years.

Bullet voting

In a previous post I reported that supporters of Judicial candidate Dick Hughes have been urging people to vote for just for him even though you can cast 2 ballots for Common Pleas Judge in Luzerne County. Today I got an email from county GOP chairman Terry Casey asking people to vote for Hughes and skip the other 2.


A MESSAGE FROM CHAIRMAN CASEY

We’re in the final stretch of what has turned into a real horse race for two seats on the Luzerne County bench.
We’re fortunate because clearly the best candidate in the field of three is our very own Richard Hughes, the only Republican in the running.
Dick is running an upbeat, positive, bipartisan campaign.
Not only is Dick battling a lopsided registration edge but he has become victim of the same old dirty Democratic political machine that is fueled by sneaky and dishonest backroom tactics.
In case you haven’t heard, the two Democratic county commissioners decided to push that antiquated, mindless method of voting – straight-party ballot -- by adding some confusing language to the ballot.
They did this in September, a month after deciding in a public meeting that the language was not necessary.
They did not do this at a public meeting as required by law. The two Democratic commissioners approved the language in typical Luzerne County Democratic fashion – a backroom deal without advertising the meeting. Again, an illegal move.
And they didn’t tell anyone about it until they voted on it at a public meeting in October – a month after it was a done deal. By then the absentee ballots were printed and ready to go.
They tried to deceive you and me and all of the voters of Luzerne County and attempted to make an already uneven playing field even more crooked.
This was done at the urging of the attorney of one of the Democratic candidates who has everything to gain by this senseless system called straight-party voting.
They have wielded this political power for too long.
But we have the power now because we’re not going to take it anymore.
We have the power to show Maryanne Petrilla and Greg Skrepenak that we’re smarter than they think we are.
We can tell them we will no longer fall victim to their dirty political tricks.
But there’s only one way we can do this.
We have to cast a bullet vote for Dick Hughes. We have to vote for one and only one candidate for county judge: Republican Richard Hughes.
PLEASE tell your family and friends to vote for ONE and only ONE candidate for Luzerne county judge!!!!
That’s the only way our party will gain traction in Luzerne County.
That’s the only chance we have at getting a Republican on the bench.
That’s the only way the Democratic machine will stop trampling on our rights and our sensibilities ...
If we stand together we can put up a roadblock and stop that Democratic machine that uses unfair tactics to control our county.
We have the power to do that – in a single vote.
A single vote for Richard Hughes for Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas.




Bill O'Boyle in the TL explains the tactic. Bullet voting is a tactic that is employed in races in which there are more candidates than open slots. By not casting the allowable number of votes a voter helps his or her preferred candidate by not adding votes to his or her rivals.

The county GOP is still fuming about instructions being included on the ballot about straight party voting . Executive Director Renita Fennick said “We think the county election board’s decision to add language regarding straight party voting encourages the antiquated, mindless practice of one party voting,” she said. “They took an uneven playing field and made it even more lopsided.”

The usual suspects of political analysis, Tom Baldino, Terry Madonna and Ed Mitchell, had a mixed reaction to the tactic.


I've been bullet voting for years and I think it works. In the Wilkes-Barre Area School Board race the only person I will be voting for is Harry Haas. There are 5 candidates for 4 slots.

Operation HEART kickoff

"All Democrats are not crooks, but all the crooks are Democrats.”-Luzerne County GOP Chairman Terry Casey

To reinforce that point yesterday we saw the Juvie Bothers, Michael Conahan and Mark Ciavarella, plead not guilty to a 48 count indictment. They previously plead guilty to 2 charges.

Jury Commissioner and Housing Authority Board Chairman Jerry Bonner also entered a plea of not guilty to taking a bribe. To top off a banner day W-B Area School Board President Frank Pizzella was indicted. All of them are elected Democrats.

.

Our local elephants have a snappy new slogan to get the point across.

.

Operation HEART: Honesty· Ethics· Accountability· Reform· Transparency

.

Yesterday, the county Republican Party had a sparsely attended news conference in their shiny new digs in the Mid-town Village in Wilkes-Barre with PA State Supreme Court nominee Joan Orie Melvin as the headliner. Two of the three row officer candidates didn't even bother to show up. You still have to work on this party unity thing folks.

.

Chairman Terry Casey started off the festivities reminding us that this is "the valley with a heart." A slogan that has been popular since the Agnes flood in 1972. Again I feel like we are living on Noah's Ark, before the flood-after the flood.

.

That will and determination, that essential goodness, is still here. Unfortunately, it has been overshadowed by a corrupt political machine brought on by the perils of a one-party system. It’s the dirty little secret that we’ve all known about for years: cronyism, nepotism, teachers paying for jobs. One set of rules for those in power, another set of rules for the rest of us. So, what do we do to polish that tarnished image and to reclaim our reputation as the Valley With A Heart?

.

Nothing short of a heart transplant. And that’s what we plan to do.We are the Republican Party of Luzerne County and I stand here today and pledge that the days of a one-party political system are over.

Zen has the whole speech.

Judge Melvin had this to say:

The most egregious case of judicial corruption and judicial abuse of power in our nation’s history actually occurred here in Pennsylvania, in Luzerne County. The judiciary violated these children. Within 5 minutes of being sworn in, they were escorted out in shackles to these personal profitable lock-ups. This is surreal. It is right out of a Charles Dickens’ novel.

She then recounted how she handled juvenile cases when she was judge in Pittsburgh. Non-violent kids didn't get locked up but were sentenced to community service.

.

Dick Hughes was the next to speak and he was for positive change then touted that he has been endorsed by the Luzerne County Police Chiefs.

.

The last speaker was Controller candidate Walter Griffith who stole the show. He was going to read his speech but put it aside and spoke from the heart. He endorsed the goals of operation HEART and added that he has been passionate about local government and the spending of your money. He knocked the local Dems sense of entitlement and pledged to "follow the money" whenever something doesn't pass the smell test. He complimented former Controller Steve Flood for his tenacity and said he will be just as tenacious.

.

The program ended with Executive Director Renita Fennick singing the praises of Carolee Medico who didn't bother to show up.

.

If Carolee were here, we’d have to give her the letter “R.”
If anyone knows reform, it’s Carolee Medico Olenginski.
For those of you who remember, Carolee took the courthouse by storm when she was first elected 12 years ago.
She took some steps that were unheard of – she came to work every day, stayed all day and kept track of her staff’s hours and days off.
She used the term “judicial corruption” long before it became a household word in Luzerne County.
It took courage to stand up for the people – especially when you find yourself standing alone – as Carolee often did. Many wished her well but ran for cover when she confronted corruption.
She was way ahead of the investigators and knew there was trouble under the dome. She was such a threat to corrupt officials that her 2001 opponent spent over $265,000 to unseat her.
We need to get Carolee back in office to finish the job that she started.


Register of Wills Candidate Gina Nevenglosky was also a no show.

A few other faces in the crowd were Commissioner Steve Urban and former State Senator Charlie Lemmond.

Republicans to endorse today

The Luzerne County Republican Party make its endorsements based on the results of a county-wide poll of all committee people. Chairman Terry Casey said.“We want to conduct this endorsement process in an honest, open, fair and transparent way, just as we promise to govern in Luzerne County. Ours is a simple message: we want to restore honesty and integrity to the county courthouse and we’re starting by conducting an honest and open primary in our own party.”

I'm going to make some predictions. First the easy ones. There are only 2 Republicans running for the Court of Common Pleas, Dick Hughes and Michael Pendolphi, so that is a no brainer and Gina Nevenglosky is the only candidate for Register of Wills in the primary.


Carolee Medico Olenginski and Walter Mitchell are in the running for Prothonotary and I think that former Prothonotary Carolee will get the nod.


The hottest race shaping up seems to be for Controller. To get the nod a candidate has had to be a registered Republican since Feb. 16, 2008 so that rules out Edd Brominski. The contenders are Alice Coffman, Walter Griffith, Nanda Palissery and Bob Sypniewski. My reading of the tea leaves tells me that Nanda Palissery will be the anointed one.


You can read the POLIICIES & PROCEDURES FOR ENDORSEMENT if you are interested.


UPDATE: I got them all right.

As predicted Hughes and Pendolphi were backed for a seat on Court of the Common Pleas and Nevenglosky was backed in her uphill battle to be the next Register of Wills.

Former Prothonotary Carolee Medico-O got the nod over President for Life of the breakaway Republic of Bear Creek Village Walter Michell with a vote of 75 to 55. I still think that Carolee will sail through the primary and be returned to the Prothonotary's office in the fall.


The battle for the endorsement for County Controller was closer than I expected with Nanda Palissery edging out Walter Griffith 51-39.

I was stuck by how many Do Not Endorse votes were cast in each race.

Overall only 132 of the 272 Republican Committee people returned a ballot and they still don't have a full compliment in the county. Maybe I should run for Republican Committeeman in my little burgh because we don't have one.

Dems vote for open primary

The Luzerne County Democratic Party decided to leave it up to the voters in the races for Judge and Prothontary. I think that is a good call with 15 Dems wanting to wear the black robes and 3 candidates in the running for Prothonotary. Chairman Mark Bufalino wants to avoid some of the acrimony that endorsements or lack of them have caused in the past.

Republican Chairman Terry Casey said the Republican Executive Committee has abandoned it's plan to endorse county candidates in the primary.

Elephants on the move

County GOP’s new leader has big plans

.

The new executive director of the Luzerne County Republican Party, Renita Fennick, thinks "people around here are mostly conservative, even if they have a D after their name. They just might not know it.” We just have to be educated. To set us straight our local R's will be bringing Karl Rove to town.

.

The fact that the county Republican party can afford a full time executive director, a permanent HQ on Public Square in Wilkes-Barre and pay Karl Rove to appear at a rubber chicken dinner shows that they have some money to spend. It looks like the big money back mountain boys that drop big bucks into national Republican campaigns but in the past have contributed to local Democrats have seen the error of their ways and are financing the local GOP. But I haven't checked the finance reports lately so they could be playing both sides of the fence like Multi-Party Bob Mericle.

.

Now that the Republican nomination is actually worth something because of the scandals in the courthouse the top dogs are planning to endorse candidates in the primary just like the Democrats. The endorsement process is necessary because of the high number of Republicans who have expressed interest in seeking the party’s nomination for county row offices, Chairman Terry Casey said.“Every day I hear of someone else who picked up petitions or who inquired about running,” Casey said. “If we have multiple candidates for the county row offices, which we expect, we will endorse. It’s a very exciting time for us.” I think that is a bad move. The local GOP has been divided into factions for a long time and an open primary with the agreement of all the candidates to unite behind the winners would be a better approach.

.

Congrats to Chairman Terry Casey on his election as the chairman of the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business and Industry. He will be working closely with former Democratic Luzerne County Commissioner (Bond Brother) Todd Vonderheid.

.

On Thursday the party will be hosting a dog and pony show at the Republican HQ, 25 Public Square in Wilkes-Barre with Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta as the headliner. Registered Republicans running for county-level office who are seeking the party endorsement will be allotted time to address the group.

.

Maybe we can make this into a blogger meetup and go to Big Ugly's afterward.

Luzerne County Republicans

Some of us were hoping that new Luzerne County Republican Chairman Terry Casey wouldn't try to mimic the the local Democrats by trying to force candidates out of the primary. The reports I have been getting points to the opposite and this story in the TL confirms it:

County GOP endorsements likely

I have nothing against Attorney Nanda Pallisary but Casey is not doing him any favors by trying to force Walter Griffith and Bob Sypnewski out of the race. Yes, a primary race cost money that could be spent in the general election but a primary raises the name recognition of the eventual winner. I think it would be beneficial for our local GOP to have a contest as long as it doesn't turn into a bloodbath like the Mueser/Hackett race in the the 10th CD last year.

Former Democratic Commissioner Edd Brominski (what's with 2 D's ?) has also announced his intention to run for Controller as a Republican. More on Bromo to come.

Karl Rove is coming to town

WILKES-BARRE -Terry Casey, chairman of the Luzerne county Republican Party, said an announcement will be made soon that Karl Rove will speak at the group’s dinner in late March at Genetti’s, Wilkes-Barre.

.

The county's GOP financial picture must be improving if they can afford to bring in a heavy hitter like Rove to share his wisdom. I'm sure he is not doing this for free.

.

I think it is interesting that he has been blathering all over the FOX News airwaves but is still fighting subpoenas to appear before the House of Representatives to answer questions in his role in the firing of nine U.S. attorneys in 2006 for political reasons. He also needs to explain his involvement in blowing the cover of CIA agent Valerie Plame and many other things.

.

It will be interesting to hear what advice he gives our local elephants on how to create a "permanent Republican majority." His formula of division and hate really worked out well for them on the national level.

2009 elections

In Luzerne County we will be electing a Controller, Prothonotary, Register of Wills and Jury Commissioners. The Controller's spot has been vacant since Maryanne Petrilla was elected Commissioner and Rapid Edward has not nominated a replacement. Incumbent Prothontary Jill Moran has drawn some fire about her work habits and business dealings and the speculation is that she will not seek a third term. Democrat Dottie Stankovic was unopposed in the general election four years ago although the good old boys tried to knock her off in the primary. Jerry Bonner is the Democratic Jury Commissioner and I can't even remember who holds the Republican slot.

Jobs like Prothonotary and Register of Wills are clerical positions that should not even be elected offices. Same goes for Jury Commissioner who's only official duty is to once a year hit the print button on a computer to get a list of prospective jurors. But we will have elections for these jobs until we get Home Rule.

As usual the action will be in the Democratic primary that will probably make the November election a formality. I hope that I'm wrong about that prediction and new county GOP Chairman Terry Casey can recruit some quality candidates and the back mountain money guys raise some serious cash for them.

I will be posting some scuttlebutt about who may be running for these positions in the coming days. If you have heard any names being tossed around let me know in the comments or toss me an email.

We will also get to pick at least one new Judge plus various school board members and municipal offices.