4 Dems, 2 Republicans win Luzerne County Council seats

Luzerne County voters selected four Democrats and two Republicans for county council Tuesday, according to unofficial general election results, averting a concern among some that there would be no Democratic representation on the 11-member body when lone Democratic Councilman Tim McGinley leaves the end of this year.

The four Democrats elected Tuesday: Patty Krushnowski, Jimmy Sabatino, Joanna Bryn Smith and Brittany Stephenson. The Republican winners: incumbent LeeAnn McDermott and Harry Haas, who previously served on council.

The six candidates who did not secure seats were Democrats Maryann Velez and Michelle Rothenbecker and Republicans Thomas Dombroski, Matthew Mitchell, Kimberly Platek and Stephen J. Urban.

Mitchell and Urban currently serve on council.

County Democratic Chairman Thomas Shubilla said he was “very impressed” with the vote tally for the party’s council candidates.

“We had six county council candidates that worked extremely hard and really fought for every vote,” Shubilla said, noting candidates received lots of help from volunteers and the state Democratic Party, which “realizes Luzerne County is extremely important.”

Council should not be one political party, Shubilla said.

“I think people are certainly sending a message to county council,” he said.

Two years ago, there was a Republican sweep with the selection of five party council candidates and no Democrats.

“Two years ago I thought we had some absolutely tremendous candidates, and we got shut out. This year we’re back,” Shubilla said. “Now I think county council is swinging more to the middle.”

The six selected Tuesday will start their four-year terms in January and serve with Republicans Kevin Lescavage, John Lombardo, Chris Perry, Brian Thornton and Gregory S. Wolovich Jr.

Lombardo, council vice chairman, said he does not know why there was such a big “flip” this year.

“The (Republican) party is divided right now, and it has caused a lot of chaos that isn’t necessary. We’ll need to work on that,” he said.

Lombardo also said he hopes the new candidates elected Tuesday “are prepared to work for all the citizens of Luzerne County and not to bring divisive outside issues into county government.”

The unofficial vote tally as of 11:30 p.m., with 100% of precincts reporting: McDermott, 28,151; Sabatino, 27,646; Bryn Smith, 27,454; Haas, 26,653; Krushnowski, 26,494; Stephenson, 25,906; Rothenbecker, 25,153; Velez, 23,875; Dombroski, 23,844; Urban, 23,808; Mitchell, 23,519; and Platek, 23,266.

Council members are elected for four-year terms at $8,000 annually. In addition to adopting a budget, their duties include approving larger contracts, appointing members to outside county boards, enacting codes and ordinances, confirming nominations to eight division head positions and hiring/firing and evaluating the manager.

The top vote-getter, McDermott, 54, of Kingston Township, thanked supporters and said she is proud of her work with colleagues to continue paying down debt and boosting the county’s credit rating.

“I feel I’ve learned so much the past four years and definitely helped to move the county forward,” said McDermott, who has owned McDermott Real Estate Appraisals in Shavertown for 28 years. “The county comes first.”

The five Democratic winners monitored results at the River Grille in Plains Township.

Bryn Smith, 37, of Wyoming, said she and the other Democratic contenders ran as a group because they are confident they will always work together as a team to address county issues, even if they don’t always agree with each other. She is a public interest attorney for The Women’s Resource Center, Barbara J. Hart Justice Center in Scranton and previously was employed as a county conflict counsel.

Sabatino, 43, of Butler Township, owns and operates three Vesuvio’s restaurant locations with his siblings in Hazleton, Drums and Wilkes-Barre.

Krushnowski, 60, of Wilkes-Barre, has been employed by Verizon for 27 years, is an executive board member of the Greater Wilkes-Barre Labor Council and a member of IBEW Local 827.

Haas, 48, of Kingston, is a Dallas School District teacher and served on county council from 2012 through 2021.

Stephenson, 26, of Plymouth Township, is a college of student affairs practitioner working with minority students at Bloomsburg University. She has three bachelor’s degrees and a master’s degree in educational leadership/college student affairs. During the campaign, Stephenson had said she hopes to be the first Black person on county council.