In a stunning upset, challenger Jamie Walsh has apparently narrowly defeated incumbent state Rep. Mike Cabell to win the Republican nomination for the 117th House District seat, according to unofficial results from the primary election Tuesday.
With all 40 precincts counted, Walsh, a gutter installation company owner from of Ross Twp., defeated Cabell by eight votes — 4,723 to 4,715.
Cabell refused to concede, saying he would await the official count that begins Friday and for absentee and provisional ballots to be counted.
The district covers roughly the western and southern parts of Luzerne County.
Walsh’s victory, if it survives the official count and perhaps a recount, would make him likely to go to Harrisburg. No Democratic candidate was on the ballot.
Cabell remained cautiously optimistic throughout the night as results trickled in. He fell behind by almost 800 votes at one point before rallying. He and allies huddled in a room at the Four Blooms Restaurant in Drums, a community in Butler.
Walsh and his supporters gathered at the Morgan Hill Golf Course in Hunlock Creek. Efforts to reach him were unsuccessful.
In other races:
120th House District: Republican Brenda Pugh will face Democrat Fern Leard in the November election to represent a state House District that includes Kingston and parts of the Back Mountain and greater Pittston Area, based on unofficial results.
The winner will replace Rep. Aaron Kaufer, who decided not to seek a sixth two-year term.
With all 37 precincts in the 120th House District, Pugh, a security technology company owner from Dallas Twp., won the Republican nomination with 3,952 votes. Luzerne County Councilwoman Lee Ann McDermott, a real estate appraisal company owner from Kingston Twp., had 1,535. Patrick Musto, a flooring company owner and Dallas school director from Dallas Twp., had 777.
Pugh said she was humble and grateful for winning in her first run for public office.
"Overwhelmed. Tired. Excited," a smiling Pugh said of her feelings during an interview outside Valenti's Restaurant in Exeter, where throngs of supporters gathered to celebrate. "This is about the voters … And I am really looking forward to working with them and getting to know them more, and what's important to them," she said.
Leard, an activist who lives in Dallas Twp., won the Democratic nomination with 3,417 votes. John Morgan, an Exeter councilman and sanitary authority employee, had 2,306 votes.
Leard thanked supporters in an interview at Rodano’s Restaurant in downtown Wilkes-Barre.
“I feel relieved. It’s been quite a journey,” Leard said. “I plan to continue to work hard to have the same sense of relief next November … I'm cautiously optimistic. I think we keep working as hard as we have been. I think we'll flip the seat.”
The fall contest could be one of the most closely watched statewide in November. Voter registration is almost evenly split between Democrats and Republicans and Kaufer’s predecessor former Rep. Phyllis Mundy was a Democrat.
Democrats have a one-vote majority, so control of the House and Rep. Joanna McClinton’s future as speaker will hang in the balance.
139th House District:
Insurance agent Jeffrey Olsommer won a special election to the state House seat that covers parts of Wayne and Pike counties, according to unofficial results from the primary election Tuesday.
With all precincts counted, Olsommer, a Republican, defeated Democrat Robin Skibber, 7,140 votes to 4,696.
Olsommer’s victory allows him to serve through Nov. 30 and reduces the Democrats’ already narrow House majority to one vote.
In the Republican primary election between Olsommer and staffing company owner Matthew Contreras, Olsommer won by 4,975 votes to 2,195.
In the Nov. 5 general election, Olsommer will again face Skibber, who was unopposed for the Democratic nomination and received 3,957 votes to secure her ballot spot. The winner will win a full two-year term that begins Dec. 1.
The district leans heavily Republican and with Olsommer already defeating Skibber, he’ll be the favorite to win again.
Olsommer celebrated with supporters at the Paupack Watering Hole near Hawley. He said he isn’t worried about his rematch with Skibber. He won because of his political experience, he said.
“I was the only person who held an elected office. I’ve been an elected supervisor in Sterling Township for 10 years,” said Olsommer. “I own a small business. I hired people in Wayne County and provided jobs for people in Wayne and Pike County.”
He shared his goals for rural Pennsylvania: helping small businesses and landowners. Olsommer also promised to work with Pike’s commissioners to open the county’s first hospital and to expand medical services.
Speaking by telephone afterward, Skibber said light turnout hurt her chances.
"Overall, I think we made great strides to close the gap. And it gave us [the] feeling that we can do this. We just need to hit the ground running in the next few months, if not sooner ... and get the word out and get some strategies out there," Skibber said. "A defeat is a defeat, but I think overall it was a win for the amount of headway we gained. It's never been seen that a Democratic challenger, and let alone a woman Democratic challenger, we did the best we've done I think ever."
121st House District: Republican Dino Disler may have won enough write-in votes to appear on the November election ballot in the 121st House District. Tallies show voters cast 863 write-ins. Who received them won’t be known until the official count that begins later this week, but Republicans mounted a strong write-in effort behind Disler.
Disler would face longtime incumbent Democratic Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski. Pashinski, a Wilkes-Barre resident, received 3,660 votes with all 33 precincts reporting to win his party’s nomination without opposition.
110th House District: Longtime incumbent Rep. Tina Pickett easily won the Republican nomination in a House district that consists of Wyoming County and the eastern half of Bradford County.
With all precincts in the 110th House District counted, Pickett had 6,691 votes and Matthew Wayman had 989 votes.
With no Democrat on the ballot, Pickett is virtually assured of winning a 13th two-year term in November.
109th House District: First-term incumbent Rep. Robert Leadbeter easily won the Republican nomination in a district that covers all of Columbia County.
With all 42 precincts reporting, Leadbeter had 6,376 votes to challenger Matthew Yoder’s 1,339.
7th Congressional District: In the Lehigh Valley congressional race, state Rep. Ryan Mackenzie won the Republican nomination and will challenge Democratic incumbent congresswoman Susan Wild.
Mackenize has 23,488 votes, Kevin Dellicker, 18,780, and Maria Montero, 12,890.
The winner will face incumbent Democratic Rep. Susan Wild, who has received 52,202 votes.
Luzerne County Government Study Commission: Voters overwhelmingly approved another commission to study changing the county council form of government.
With all 186 precincts reporting, there were 31,705 yes votes and 14,914 no votes.
