The Blue Wave is being led by women

Yes, the party that holds the White House historically loses seats in the mid term elections. We all know that a record number of women are running for office and winning primaries for Governor, Congress and State offices in record numbers. But the thing I'm seeing is the intensity of their supporters beginning with the Women's March in January of 2017 that has not abated.

All the evidence points to a big year for the Dems with bigger than normal  turnouts in primary and special elections but very few Democrats have actually won special elections for Congress unless the GOP candidate is just ridiculous like Roy Moore or Rick Saccone. On the state level they have done much better. 

I'm always cautious about expectations because the Republicans have some advantages. First is almost unlimited money. Millionaires and Billionaires can write checks to dark money groups because of Citizens United that go to so called social welfare groups. They then can spend that money painting Democrats as the equivilant of  devil worshipers who want to take you guns, murder babies and give people health insurance.

The second is gerrymandering.  Things have improved in PA but many states have carved up the districts to give the GOP a big advantage. Just look at Ohio 12. In a fairly drawn district the Democrat would have won easily.

So that leads us to our little corner of the world. The Democrats are playing defense with Governor Wolf, Senator Bob Casey, Congressman Matt Cartwright and State Rep Eddie Day Pashinski on the ballot. Their opponents have gone all in with Trump. Although we don't have  women  running for office the Democratic women are leading the charge to keep these men in office.


After many years of being dormant the Luzerne County Democratic Party is coming roaring back. We are being led by Polly Delaney and Wendy Cominsky. This dynamic duo have organized many events past and future and are looking for ideas from the rest of us to just get people to vote.

2017 Election Results- Luzerne County Council

Matt Vough and Chris Perry

My candidate came up a bit short but I am very proud of the race Wendy Cominsky ran. She is someone without money or powerful friends who just wanted to make a difference. She offered solutions to the problems the county faces and worked as hard as any candidate I've ever met. I'm grateful for her friendship and trust. She came darn close and somehow I feel I let her down.

The top 3 vote getters was not a surprise. Incumbents Linda Houck(D) and Harry Haas(R) ran their record and the people rewarded them with another term. Sheila Saidman was top of the poll in the primary and it carried over.

The surprises of the night were Matt Vough (D) and Chris Perry (R). They also worked their tails off and I saw them just about everywhere.

The great thing about this election was the lack of acrimony.  For the most part the candidates seemed to genuinely like each other and want to work together regardless of party



I want to congratulate all the candidates for offering themselves for public office. It takes guts to run and put up with the nonsense like the anonymous cowards who comment on the local newspaper websites.

x Sheila Saidman (DEM)		21,406
x Linda McClosky Houck (DEM)		20,369
Wendy Cominsky (DEM)		19,365
x Matthew Vough (DEM)		20,386
John Gadomski (DEM)		18,342
x Harry Haas (REP)		20,319
x Chris R. Perry (REP)		20,125
Marc Dixon (REP)		19,115
Stephen J. Urban (REP)		19,758
Gregory S. Wolovich Jr. (REP)		16,620

Wendy Cominsky for County Council

In my many years of politics I have been able to sort out the people who want to be someone verses the people who want to do something.

Wendy Cominsky is someone who want's to do something. She has all sorts of ideas to improve Luzerne County. I may not agree with all of  them all but let's put them out for discussion.

Her platform is on the website:

Wendy Cominsky for Luzerne County Council

A snippet:

Alternative Energy

We also should be considering alternative energy as well as protecting what is left of our natural resources. Apparently some people did not learn their lesson from the coal companies. Tunkhannock is seeing a dramatic drop in local business since the gas drilling craze is fading. When we run out of gas, like the coal mines, those companies will be gone and many people will be without jobs and many businesses without customers. This can cause economic collapse and we need to prevent it. Everybody was sold on gas because it would bring jobs to the area and lower energy costs. Here’s the exciting news: so will the development of renewable energy sources! By shifting our focus to renewable energy, we will lower costs and still have fossil fuel energy to rely on in times of crisis. Environmentally speaking, I believe that clean water will become more valuable than gold in the not so distant future. We absolutely need to protect our natural springs as if they were our children, because frankly, our children will pay the price if we don’t.

Blogfest Fall 2017

The Bloggers and the Blogcon Squirrels

Another great Blogfest was held at the River Grille in Plains. In addition to the political types NEPA Blogcon joined us for their after party. There is always a prize for the person who traveled the farthest and this time it goes to PA Lt. Governor candidate Aryanna Berringer who came all the way from Pittsburgh. Aryanna is no stranger to our area, she lived in W-B a few years ago.


Two 11th Congressional District candidates also traveled a bit. Democrat Alan Howe from Carlisle made another appearance in the area and Republican Andrew Shecktor left the wilds of Berwick to
join us.




 Many Luzerne County hopefuls were there. Both Controller candidates, incumbent Michelle Bednar (D) and former Controller Walter Griffith (R), worked the crowd. County Council Democratic nominees Wendy Cominsky, Matt Vough mixed it up with Republicans Marc Dixon and Greg Wolovich. Municipal candidates included Luzerne Mayor candidate John Cordara (D?), incumbent Dallas Twp. Supervisor Liz Martin (D) and Plains Twp. Commissioner nominee Barry Kresge (R).
Plus W-B City Councilman Tony Brooks (R) and State Rep Jerry Mullery.

The NEPA Blogcon group were a lot of fun and added energy to the gathering.

Local TV coverage

Bloggers meet political candidates in person

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

Luzerne County Council-The Democrats

I have had the good fortune of meeting all of the Luzerne County Council candidates of the years. Most of them recently and for a few it's been a while. Here is a rundown:

The top vote getters in the primary:

17254 votes cast in the Republican primary

1. Harry Haas (Inc)
2. Chris Perry
3. Marc Dixon
4. Stephen J Urban
 5. Greg Wolovich

23480 votes cast in the Democratic primary

1. Sheila Saidman
2. Linda Houck(Inc)
3. Wendy Cominsky
4. Matt Vough
5. John Gadomsky

Only 6000+ votes more Democratic votes than Republicans.

Some links and obserations.

Wendy Cominsky  

Website:  Wendy Cominsky for Luzerne County Council
 Facebook: Wendy Cominsky for Luzerne County Council

Matt Vough

Website: Matt Vough Luzerne County Council
Facebook: Matt Vough Luzerne County Council

Linda Houck



Facebook:Llinda Mcclosky Houck for Luzerne County Council
No website

John Gadomsky

Facebook: John Gadomsky for Luzerne County Council
No website

Sheila Saidman

Facebook: Sheila Saidmain for Luzerne County Council
No website

That's it for the Democrats. Republicans coming up.

Rock the County-Wendy Cominsky for Luzerne County Council

Wendy Cominsky is one of those very special people who decided to run for office. She doesn't have money or powerful friends just a desire to make a difference. I asked her why she would want to do such a thing and she told me she has been an activist about issues she cares about and people suggested she should run for office. So she listened to them and threw her hat into the ring. She is a middle class worker who owns her own business and she said if she is successful it will encourage more people like her.

She organized a great event and invited other candidates to circulate  petitions. The other council candidates gathering signatures were incumbent Linda Houck and newcomers Phil Gianfarcaro, David Popiak and Sheila Saidman.

Michelle Bednar is running for reelection as Controller and said she is proud of the job she has done. She has reorganized the office and has done more with less people because of the county financial problems. The audits are on time and she will be looking at the  books of the local tax collectors next. The audit of the Homestead exemption has netted $100K in back taxes.

A couple of Wilkes-Barre Area School Board candidates also were seeking some ink.Melissa Etzle Patla and Jarvis Wright. More on Jarvis tomorrow.

 

Luzerne County Council election 2017

The TL has a rundown of the candidates that have so far expressed an interest in becoming Luzerne County Councilors. Democratic incumbent Council chair Linda McClosky Houck is up for another run but Eileen Sorokas will take a pass.

 I backed Eileen last time but her support of Trump as reported in this Newsweek article ( Why Did Donald Trump Win? Just Visit Luzerne County, Pennsylvania) poisoned her potential support among  local Dems. The news of the last few weeks revealed a serious lack of judgement on her part.

Incumbent Republican Harry Haas says the county has made progress on the debt and other issues and will seek a third term. Kathy Dobash is being coy but is probably in.

Independent Rick Williams is non committal about  term.

A bunch of Democrats will be circulating petitions:

Wendy Cominsky, of  Dallas Township

 John Gadomski, of Wyoming

 Philip Gianfarcaro, of Pittston

 David Popiak, of Hazleton

 Sheila Saidman, of Kingston

 The Republicans looking to get on the ballot:

Mark Dixon, of Wright Township,

 Chris Perry, of Fairview Township

 Stephen J. Urban, of Wilkes-Barre

 Gregory S. Wolovich Jr., of Newport Township

This Sunday candidate Wendy Cominsky is holding a petition party open to all Democratic candidates.

Rock the County