No physical punches were thrown, but Thursday’s debate between state Sen. Marty Flynn and newcomer Jeffrey Lake was feistier than the average rhetorical rumble.
As expected, the incumbent came as himself — a cocky, combative former pugilist turned seasoned veteran of the political ring. Marty takes every challenge — even a contentious conversation — as a battle of wills.
Lake, a heavy underdog in his longshot bid to knock Marty out of office, was mostly a blank canvas when the opening bell rang. He answered it much more deftly than many interested observers expected.
Lake came off as confident, professional and prepared to mix it up on a wide range of issues.
The combatants sat at a table at the front of a small classroom in the University of Scranton’s Brennan Hall. The scene evoked the image of a press conference promoting a title fight targeting a potentially huge pay-per-view audience.
Admission was free and there were still empty seats. The debate was and is free to stream on YouTube. I encourage anyone with a spare hour and any stake in the future of the 22nd Senate District to sit through it.
The candidates answered questions on topics including campaign finance reform, affordable housing and legalized weed, but the main event was invasive data center development. The remaking of the state in the image of “divine right” billionaire tech “broligarchs” is sure to be the top issue in Pennsylvania politics for years to come.
Sunday Times Staff Writer Jeff Horvath provided excellent blow-by-blow coverage. I’m more interested in the fight behind the fight. The debate showcased a battle of wills between an old-school, transactional politics that stalls progress and rewards predation and new ideas and approaches that don’t worship money as the ultimate expression of success.
The candidates in this race are ideal avatars of this seemingly endless struggle. Marty represents a cynical, sclerotic system that reduces government to a retail money “Machine” that dispenses fortune and favor based on how slyly insiders “play the game.” He’s not shy about it.
At the debate, Marty bragged about the “$130 million” he’s brought home to his district and his leading role in punching out an astronomical rate increase proposed by Pennsylvania American Water. These wins undoubtedly benefited Marty’s constituents, but their value is exclusively defined by the bottom line.
The same obsession with financial rewards drives the invasive data center developers who want to pave over Pennsylvania and politicians programmed to roll out the red carpet for any investor with deep pockets and shallow goals. Money is the means and end that justifies just about anything.
This mindset was sharply reflected in an exchange about campaign finance. Lake tagged Marty for his campaign fund’s $100,000 donation to now-Lackawanna County Commissioner Chairman Thom Welby in last year’s special election. Marty again defended the donation and again said he would give Thom Welby “a million dollars” if he could.
Marty said he’s not opposed to setting a state limit on campaign contributions “as long as everyone is playing by the same rules.” Lake dismissed Marty’s statement as “laughable,” considering the contribution to Welby.
“Hey, it’s the parameters of what it is,” Marty replied. “It’s legal.”
For my money, it was the most telling exchange of the evening. “Legal” is the lowest standard, the bare minimum of acceptable conduct. In Machine politics, it’s the only measure that matters.
Marty didn’t build the Machine, but he’s comfortable being a key cog in it.
“I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere,” he said.
He’s probably right. A Lake victory would be an upset for the ages. It’s an extremely unlikely outcome. But whether Lake wins or loses, he used the debate to prove himself an able avatar for more responsive, less cynical and staunchly pro-public interest leadership in the Democratic Party and in government.
Lake offers dissatisfied Democratic voters a viable alternative to Machine control of their party. What they do with the opportunity will be decided democratically at the polls.
Lake’s candidacy also pushed Marty to pay closer attention to the surging public resistance to data centers near homes, schools and public parks, which isn’t going anywhere, either. If Marty wins the primary, the resistance is bound to dog him through the fall and beyond.
The race against invasive data center development is a marathon, not a sprint. So is the struggle to pull our politics out of the money gutter. In battles of will, winners treat losses as speed bumps and keep running until they break the tape.
CHRIS KELLY, The Times-Tribune columnist, urges you to vote in the May 19 primary election. Contact the writer: ckelly@scrantontimes.com; @cjkink on X; Chris Kelly, The Times-Tribune on Facebook; and @chriskellyink on Bluesky.