Wilkes-Barre City Council President Jessica McClay turned back retired city emergency medical technician Michael Stadulis to win the Democratic nomination for the state 121st House District seat, according to unofficial results from the primary election Tuesday.
With all 33 precincts reporting, McClay had 2,628 votes to 1,606 for Stadulis and earned the right to represent her party in the race to replace retiring Democratic state Rep. Eddie Pashinski’s seat.
McClay credited her win to pounding the pavement and the backing of the man she wants to succeed.
"Myself and my team, we knocked over 5,500 doors," the Wilkes-Barre City Council president said. "Everybody is a huge fan of Eddie, so his endorsement goes a very long way," McClay said.
Pashinski and Wilkes-Barre Mayor George Brown solidly threw their support behind McClay.
Efforts to reach Stadulis were not immediately successful Tuesday night.
McClay will face Republican Michael D. Harostock III in November. Harostock, a Bear Creek Village resident, was unopposed for his party's nomination.
From knocking on all the doors, McClay learned voters are most concerned about "affordability."
"Things have just gotten so expensive that we need to figure out a way that people could stay in their homes," McClay said. "Affordable housing, that seems to be a number one issue, especially for our elderly right now."
In other contested races:
117th House District
A winner by only four votes two years ago, state Rep. Jamie Walsh earned the Republican Party’s nomination again by a far larger margin this time.
With all 40 precincts reporting, Walsh defeated former United Way of Wyoming Valley CEO Bill Jones with 6,097 votes to 2,355. Walsh celebrated his victory with supporters at Morgan Hills Golf Course in Hunlock Creek.
“We have been for the last 50 years ruled by a ruling class by selected, not elected, people in Luzerne County,” he said as he began a heated victory speech. “You all elected the first person in Luzerne County in decades ... This is grassroots. This is the revolution right here in Hunlock Creek that we all started together. "
Walsh expressed frustration towards current elected officials and "so many politicians running on broken promises."
"They never should have shut our businesses down, our churches, our schools (during the COVID-19 pandemic) in 2020," he said. "They should've never masked our children.
"We are not going to rest long. Because we are going to start planning for the township supervisors that are bullying their township residents... we're coming for you next in the next election. We're coming for any school board that wants to push us around, shut out our parental rights and tell our kids they need to learn critical race theory for God's sake. They're going next."
Jones said he couldn’t overcome Walsh’s huge advantage in name recognition and money. In all, Jones said he spent about $125,000, but Walsh spent several times more.
The low turnout hurt his chances, and Walsh convinced voters he could stop data centers, Jones said.
Jones said he's happy with the race he ran and doesn’t plan to run for office again.
“I went hard on issues. I did not go at him personally or his personal life. I stayed away from that,” Jones said. “I gave it a shot. I did not want to have any regrets ... He crushed me, and congratulations to him and his team. I underestimated the size and strength of his base, and you know they did a great job.”
114th House District
With all 40 precincts reporting, Logan Lombardo, of Clarks Summit, defeated David Burgerhoff, of Scranton and earned the Republican nomination, 1,673 votes to 860. Lombardo will face incumbent Rep. Bridget Kosierowski, of Waverly, who won the Democratic nomination with 6,994 votes.
120th House District
With all 37 precincts reporting, Fern Leard, of Dallas Twp., defeated Luzerne County Councilwoman Joanna Bryn Smith, of Wyoming, for the Democratic nomination, 3,456 votes to 2,553. Leard will face incumbent Rep. Brenda Pugh in November. Pugh won the Republican nomination unopposed with 5,117 votes. Pugh easily defeated Leard two years ago to win her first term in the seat.
In uncontested House nominating races, the winners were:
68th District (Bradford/Tioga)
Republican: Rep. Clint Owlett
Democratic: Quentin Joseph Gee
76th District (Clinton/Union)
Republican: Rep. Stephanie Borowicz
Democratic: Sara Eggler
83rd District (Lycoming/Union)
Republican: Rep. Jamie Flick
Democratic: No one on the ballot
84th District (Lycoming/Sullivan)
Republican: Rep. Joe Hamm
Democratic: No one on the ballot
85th District (Union, Snyder, Mifflin and Juniata)
Republican: Rep. David Rowe
Democratic: No one on the ballot
107th District (Northumberland/Schuylkill)
Republican: Rep. Joanne Stehr
Democratic: Ryan Coleman
108th District (Montour/Northumberland)
Republican: Rep. Michael Stender
Democratic: Amber Neidig
109th District (Columbia)
Republican: Rep. Robert Leadbeter III
Democratic: Bloomsburg Mayor Justin Hummel
110th District (Bradford/Wyoming)
Republican: Rep. Tina Pickett
Democratic: Pamela Hemann
111th District (Susquehanna/Wayne)
Republican: Rep. Jonathan Fritz
Democratic: Kyle T. Devlin
112th District (Lackawanna)
Democratic: Rep. Kyle Mullins
Republican: Joseph J. Sabia Jr.
113th District (Lackawanna)
Democratic: Rep. Kyle Donahue
Republican: Lucas O’Brien
115th District (Monroe)
Democratic: Rep. Maureen Madden
Republican: Richard Szabo
116th District (Luzerne/Schuylkill)
Republican: Rep. Dane Watro Jr.
Democratic: No one on the ballot
118th District (Luzerne/Lackawanna)
Democratic: Rep. Jim Haddock
Republican: Luzerne County Councilman John F. Lombardo
119th District (Luzerne)
Republican: Rep. Alec Ryncavage
Democratic: Lauren McCurdy
122nd District (Carbon)
Republican: Rep. Doyle Heffley
Democratic: No one on the ballot
123rd District (Schuylkill)
Republican: Rep. Tim Twardzik
Democratic: John A. Deatrich Jr.
124th District (Berks/Schuylkill)
Republican: Rep. Jamie Barton
Democratic: Tina Burns,
139th District (Wayne/Pike)
Republican: Rep. Jeffrey Olsommer
Democratic: Dominique N. Azzollini
176th District: (Monroe)
Republican: Rep. Jack Rader Jr.
Democratic: No one on the ballot
189th District (Monroe/Pike)
Democratic: Rep. Tarah Probst
Republican: Danica Hartenfels
