The retirement of longtime state Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski will likely mean a hotly contested race to replace him in a seat Democrats have held for more than 50 years.
“The fact that the 121st House District is now a swing seat with Eddie Day Pashinski’s retirement shows you just how far the political realignment has come in NEPA,” Republican political consultant Chris Nicholas said. “This seat encompasses (heavily Democratic) Wilkes-Barre, and even five, ten years ago, no one would have said, ‘Oh, yeah, the GOP can challenge there.’”
Pashinski, a Wilkes-Barre resident who planned to run for an 11th two-year term this year, announced last week he won’t.
In an interview earlier this year, Pashinski said he would run again if he thought a Republican might win the seat.
On Thursday, Pashinski, 80, said his age, the emergence of a strong Democratic replacement candidate and an election year considered favorable to Democrats encouraged him to retire.
“I don’t know where the time has gone, but I think it’s time for some new (blood),” he said. “I feel that the way (President Donald) Trump and the people that he has put in charge have abused the honor of serving the people and have been ruthless in so many ways. I think you're beginning to see (opposition) all over the country. Many good Republicans are now questioning strongly how Trump and his group is proceeding.”
The district, which is entirely located in Luzerne County, covers the City of Wilkes-Barre, the townships of Bear Creek, Buck,
Plains and Wilkes-Barre, and the boroughs of Bear Creek
Village and Laurel Run.
New candidates lining up
Already, two major-party candidates have emerged:
Wilkes-Barre City Council Chairperson Jessica McClay, 41, a Democrat and a worker’s compensation claims adjuster for Sedgwick, a worldwide company. McClay, a lifelong city resident, is in her first council term, but served for more than a decade on city civil service, planning and traffic boards.
“I just think I could do more. I mean, it's obviously on a bigger level,” McClay said of the seat in an interview.McClay sees education and the economy as the race’s two big issues.
“I have a teaching degree. I know that's not currently what I'm doing, but education is always (important),” she said. “Same thing with economics ... I realize people are struggling. Believe me, I see it. I live in the heart of city.”
Bear Creek Village Borough Mayor Mike Harostock, 41, the executive vice president for business development and analytics for United One, an information technology company that helps banks manage credit risks.
“I think the big issues are going to be our business climate, safety and security, our education and supporting the folks who make our area as great as it is,” Harostock said in an interview.
Nicholas said he wouldn’t be surprised if other candidates enter the race because it’s an open seat, which means no incumbent running.
Pashinski said he’s endorsing McClay and hopes the Democratic Party will get behind her.
Candidates may begin gathering signatures on nominating petitions today to get on the May 19 primary election ballot. The deadline for filing petitions is March 10.
A historically Democratic seat
The last Republican to hold the seat was Rep. James Jump, who lost a bid for an eighth two-year term in 1960 to Democrat Bernie O’Brien. The same year, Sen. John F. Kennedy won to become the nation’s 35th president.
Wilkes-Barre City Councilman Kevin Blaum defeated O’Brien in the 1980 Democratic primary and won election that November. Blaum held the seat until 2006. He retired instead of seeking another term amid widespread voter dissatisfaction with state legislators who gave themselves a middle-of-the-night 34% pay raise the year before.
Pashinski easily defeated Republican activist Christine Katsock in 2006 to win his first term and dominated re-elections his first six re-election bids. He’s faced stronger contests the last two times out with Republicans unsuccessfully spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to defeat him two years ago.
Looking for an upset
Harostock said he’s aware a Republican hasn’t won the seat in a long time but thinks he can win anyway.
“I'm really optimistic about the future of our area, and I want to bring the ideas of the future forward for our for our community,” he said. “I want to serve our community and make this a place where our children have a choice and want to be when they grow up.”
McClay said she’s aware she’s facing a tight race.
“It does waver in that this is one of the districts that it could go either way,” she said. “I am here for everyone, you know, regardless of what my party is.”
The race will likely attract a lot of campaign spending and attention, Democratic and Republicans operatives say, because:
- Democrats need to hold the seat to keep their one-vote majority in the House.
- Republicans see a prime opportunity to flip an open Democratic seat that’s trending Republican despite a large Democratic voter registration edge.
The political demographics
As of Monday, the district had 16,693 registered Democrats, or 50.4% of all district voters, and 10,945 Republicans, or 32.5%.
Despite the Democratic voter edge, President Donald Trump almost won the district in 2024. Democratic nominee Kamala Harris had 11,200 votes in the 121st, or 49.6%, Trump, 11,139, or 43.4%, a 61-vote margin.
With all the Republican money spent trying to defeat Pashinski in 2024, he still handily defeated Republican Dino Disler to win a 10th two-year term.
Nonetheless, Pashinski won by 10.6 percentage points against a candidate who barely campaigned, a much narrower margin than in the past.
The first four times Pashinski ran for re-election and had a Republican challenger — all but one before Trump came on the scene — Pashinski always won by 29 points or more.
Harostock said he’s aware of the voting trend.
“I see it as an important race, because families in our area can benefit from having someone looking out for their views in Harrisburg,” Harostock said.
Pashinski reflects on career
Pashinski, a popular local rock ‘n’ roll musician in the 1960s and 1970s and former Greater Nanticoke Area School District teacher, said he plans to stay active when his term ends Nov. 30.
“I never planned on being a music teacher. Never planned on being a state representative. It's amazing how life goes,” he said.
In 20 years as a state legislator, he’s most proud of a law that helps grandparents gain custody of grandchildren whose parents can’t care for them because of drug or alcohol addiction or other reasons.
He’s also proud of dramatically increasing funding for public school education and developing the first state law specifically providing aid to farms.
“I’m not going to do nothing. I still have this year, and there's several projects that I definitely want to finish, and then I look forward to still being active in the community, helping out anywhere I can,” Pashinski said.
