Monthly Entry

Well, I think it's been five weeks since my last post. I guess that's an improvement over six weeks ...

In the past month, the Phillies have maintained their lead on first place in the NL East. They've been getting great pitching (for the most part) and have been hitting just enough (for the most part). Quite honestly, they should have a few more wins, but there have been a couple occasions when good pitching was wasted due to a lack of offense. Just ask Cole Hamels. Overall, not much to complain about. This weekend's series against the Red Sox should be a good test of their mettle.

In another follow-up from the previous post, you may recall that I floated the idea of Liz Randol continuing her quest for a Lackawanna County Commissioner's seat by running in November as an Independent. Randol ran as a Democrat in the primary and came within a few hundred votes of upsetting current commissioner Corey O'Brien for one of the spots on the November ballot.

Well, it seems I'm not the only one thinking along those lines. Based on recent newspaper COLUMNS and BLOG entries, there is a lot of support for Randol to mount a write-in campaign (which, upon further reflection, makes a lot more sense than running as an Independent, which would require a change in parties and the filing of more nominating petitions). So far, I've not heard any word that she's actually going to do it, but her campaign WEB SITE is still up, so it could easily be tweaked if she decided to go for it.

And, if she does decide to run a write-in campaign, it sets up a very interesting scenario where Lackawanna County could end up with three majority commissioners. (There doesn't seem to be anything in the county CHARTER which would prevent this scenario) Look at the RESULTS from the May primary. Registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans by a margin of more than 2-1. In terms of actual voters, more than three times as many Democrats than Republicans turned out. Randol garnered more than twice the number of votes as the top Republican finisher. If the same people who voted for Randol in the primary turn out in November and write in her name, she's in. Their other votes would likely be split between the other two Democrats, Corey O'Brien and Jim Wansacz, and the Republicans would find themselves shut out.

Could it happen? Will it happen? I don't know. But, as an observer with no vested interest in the outcome, I was impressed by the positive energy Randol put into her primary campaign, and it clearly made an impression with plenty of voters who DO have a vested interest in who runs Lackawanna County.