Time to start gearing up for elections. The May Primary is about seven weeks away, so there will be lots and lots of races to coordinate. I'm guessing anywhere from 150 to 200.
I'll start working on it full-time in a couple of weeks, but I had a chance to do some work yesterday. I started with Luzerne County since the bulk of the information I need is on the county web site. By my count, there are 35 contested races (that my station will cover) in the county this spring.
The most interesting races would appear to be County Commissioners, several county row offices and the mayor's races in Hazleton and Wilkes-Barre. I don't see Tom Leighton having much of a problem in W-B, and Lou Barletta should get through the primary with no problem. In November, he'll likely face the former mayor Mike Marsicano. I don't recall much about Marsicano's one term in office, but I skimmed an article which pointed out the city's money troubles during his term. But, that's a story for November. Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves.
Something else to watch, the statewide races for Supreme and Superior Court. In the primaries, there are two seats up for grabs on each court. Then, in November, not only will those races be on the ballot again, but there will be several appeals court judges up for retention. It will be interesting to see, especially for the PA Supreme Court Justice, if there is still lingering anger about the whole pay raise thing. In '05, voters got rid of Nigro. Will Thomas Saylor stay or go? We'll find out in about eight months.