The Lackawanna County Democratic Party will withdraw a lawsuit challenging the decision to have a special election for county commissioner this year.
The decision means former state Rep. Thom Welby, who won the special election Tuesday, can serve the remainder of former Commissioner Matt McGloin’s term.
The term ends Jan. 3, 2028. Welby, the Democratic party’s nominee for the special election, defeated Republican Chet Merli and independent Michael Cappellini, according to unofficial results from the election on Tuesday.
In a statement, county Democratic chairman Chris Patrick said Thursday the party will withdraw the suit Friday after two months of challenging an Aug. 29 county Board of Elections decision to have the special election.
“Given our party’s registration advantage and the likelihood that we will continue to see the majority of the Board of Commissioners occupied by Democrats, having special elections occur under our home rule charter is what is best for the Democratic committee in Lackawanna County,” he said. “In short, it’s a better fight for the Republicans to wage because I can see a future scenario where we pick up all three commissioner seats in a special election.”
Welby expected withdrawal
On Election Day, Welby said he expected to serve the rest of McGloin’s term because Commissioner Brenda Sacco, who replaced McGloin on Oct. 22, told him she would step aside.
However, doubts remained because the suit remained pending in the county court, despite the party losing a request for a preliminary emergency order blocking the election in September.
Sacco is also part of that suit. Efforts to reach her were unsuccessful, but she told Fox56 News she would withdraw the suit, too.
“I made this decision because it’s time to end the conflict and uncertainty,” Sacco said in a written statement to the local TV station. “This is clearly what’s best for Lackawanna County.”
Sacco said continuing would have prolonged “the same divisive legal battles that have dominated our politics this year.”
The case history
McGloin resigned Feb. 24. Based on the county home rule charter, the county Democratic Party executive committee recommended Sacco and two others to county common pleas court judges tasked with choosing one.
Patrick said he took the advice of the county solicitor, Don Frederickson, in using that process, which both major parties used to fill three previous commissioner vacancies in the last 20 years.
The county and Commissioner Bill Gaughan challenged the use of that process. They claimed a state Supreme Court administrative rule required the county judges to run the selection process without the party’s input.
The county and Gaughan lost the argument before county judges, the state Commonwealth Court, and the state Supreme Court.
The county common pleas judges chose Sacco on Sept. 4, but held off on swearing her in until Oct. 22, after the Supreme Court weighed in.
'Not wasting any more time'
In an interview, Patrick said he still thinks state law favored the party and the party could have won the suit and upended the special election.
“I'm not wasting any more time, any more money, anymore anything,” Patrick said. “I mean, where do we go here? What are we going to do to hold up this election? It’s just time. There's been enough fighting. There's been enough infighting. The Democrats in Lackawanna County spoke loud and clear.”
With the election, “voters decided who they wanted, overwhelmingly,” he said.
“And it's probably time to move on and try to rebuild and try to mend fences and rebuild bridges, if that could be possible,” Patrick said. “It's going on eight months. I'm beat up. The party's beat up.”
Patrick said the party would have made the same decision if either Merli or Cappellini had won.
The dissension pitted Patrick and state Sen. Marty Flynn against Gaughan and state Reps. Kyle Mullins and Kyle Donahue, who both endorsed Cappellini against the party’s choice of Welby.
The infighting got so bad, a group of Democrats based in the Abingtons called for Patrick’s resignation. They accused him of running a secretive selection process that settled on Sacco and denied others a chance at interviews.
Patrick said everyone had a chance to apply, and he used the traditional process but had to act quickly because the party only had five days to name three potential replacements.
Patrick confirmed again that he does not plan to seek another four-year term as chairman next year.
“Maybe it'll be easier with someone else at the helm,” he said.
