Luzerne County voters will select six county council members this year

A majority of Luzerne County Council seats — six of 11 — are up for grabs this year, and two incumbents won’t be in the mix.

The seats expiring the end of this year are currently filled by Carl Bienias III, LeeAnn McDermott, Tim McGinley, Matthew Mitchell, Chairwoman Kendra Radle and Stephen J. Urban.

Bienias, McDermott, Mitchell and Urban say they plan to run for another term.

McGinley cannot run again this year due to a three-term limit in the county’s home rule charter. He is the only seated council member who served since the county’s January 2012 switch to a home rule government structure.

Radle said she won’t be seeking reelection at this time because she is getting married shortly before the May 16 primary (to prior council member Matthew Vough) and wants to take some time to focus on family and her full-time career.

“Being a council member — a good, well-informed council member — requires a lot of time and focus, and I feel in the coming four years I will not be able to give the role the attention it deserves,” Radle said.

Radle added she has enjoyed her time on council, including her current role as chair, and plans to finish her term through 2023 “just as determined to do good things for Luzerne County as when I began three years ago.”

Bienias and Mitchell both took office last year — Bienias in February to fill a seat that became vacant because Walter Griffith was elected county controller and Mitchell in June to replace Robert Schnee when he became a state representative.

McDermott and Urban took office in 2020. Urban also previously served on council from 2012 through 2015.

Due to voter choices and Schnee’s party registration to Republican, McGinley is the lone Democrat on council.

As part of a Republican sweep, county voters elected all five of the party’s council contenders in the November 2021 general election: John Lombardo, Chris Perry (incumbent), Brian Thornton, Kevin Lescavage and Gregory Wolovich Jr.

County Republican Party Chairman P.J. Pribula said he is confident voters will continue to see value in choosing council candidates from his party.

The gap between registered Democrats and Republicans in the county has been steadily decreasing for years. As of Dec. 27, there were 88,331 registered Democrats and 81,460 registered Republicans in the county — a difference of 6,871, according to a state report.

Pribula said he was pleased with the level of support for Republican contenders in the county during the 2022 mid-terms.

“Results don’t lie,” Pribula said.

The party will have a full slate of council candidates for the May 16 primary, Pribula said.

Candidates can start circulating and filing nomination petitions on Feb. 14.

“We’re vetting through some candidates. Hopefully by mid-January we’ll have it nailed down,” Pribula said.

County Democratic Party Chairwoman Kathy Bozinski is equally confident voters will gravitate to her party’s council candidates.

Bozinski predicts voters will want to restore party balance on council now that they have observed a “lopsided majority.”

“On so many issues, there have been stalemates. There have been balls dropped. It can’t continue like this,” Bozinski said. “We feel restoring a two-party balance on Luzerne County Council is essential — not just for council but for the people of Luzerne County going forward.”

With the clock ticking, Democrats are working to assemble a solid slate of Democratic council contenders, Bozinski said.

Reflecting on McGinley’s departure from council the end of 2023, Bozinski said he has served with “great wisdom and leadership.”

She described him as a “consensus builder,” citing the most recent budget process as an example, saying he spent extensive time working with council colleagues to come up with cuts to reduce the tax hike.

“His leadership played a great role in reaching a compromise that residents of Luzerne County could live with,” Bozinski said. “Serving as a council member can be a thankless job at times, and I hope that everyone appreciates the contributions he’s made to Luzerne County during his tenure.”

Council members receive $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.

Republicans and Democrats will each choose six nominees in the primary to advance to the Nov. 7 general election, when all county voters are free to pick six of any affiliation.

Independent or third-party contenders may enter the council race after the primary. There are 19,115 voters with no affiliation and 6,061 with other affiliations in the county, state statistics show.