Independent Lackawanna County commissioner candidate Michael Cappellini is questioning the motive behind $100,000 in contributions Democratic state Sen. Marty Flynn’s political committee made to Democrat Thom Welby’s campaign for commissioner in Tuesday’s special election.
Welby — Flynn’s former longtime chief of staff who won a 2021 special election to succeed him as state representative for the 113th state House District after Flynn became a state senator — disclosed the $100,000 in support from the Friends of Marty Flynn committee in campaign finance reports filed Tuesday. He and Flynn defended the support, delivered in two $50,000 tranches, pointing to their long personal and professional relationships.
“If I could give Thom Welby a million dollars I would give it to him,” Flynn, D-22, Dunmore, said Wednesday morning.
It complemented a social media statement where Flynn said: “Thom Welby worked for me for 10 years and is the most qualified, responsible, honorable man I know and I would do anything that I can to get him elected Lackawanna County Commissioner!”
Candidates in a special election for a Lackawanna Count commissioner seat include, from left, Michael Cappellini, Chet Merli and Thom Welby. (Submitted)
Cappellini, a Democrat who turned independent for the purposes of seeking the commissioner seat, targeted the large Flynn contribution in a press release Tuesday.
“I owe it to the people of Lackawanna County to ask a simple question: why is a State Senator who represents only around half of Lackawanna County investing $100,000 into this Commissioner seat?” Cappellini asked. “What does he expect in return? We all deserve to know what’s behind this kind of outside spending and influence.”
The $100,000 from Flynn’s committee accounts for the lion’s share of $134,106.34 in total contributions and receipts Welby’s committee, Friends of Thom Welby, reported as of Oct. 20.
Cappellini’s committee, Cappellini for Commissioner, reported $77,140 in contributions and receipts as of that date, the sum of much smaller individual donations that Cappellini juxtaposed with Flynn’s considerably more substantial contribution to the Welby campaign. Republican commissioner candidate Chet Merli’s committee, Friends of Chet Merli, reported contributions and receipts totaling $17,825 as of Oct. 20.
“It is fairly interesting to me that he would be as involved as he is,” Cappellini said of Flynn. “Ultimately I just think it’s another opportunity to look and see where the machine truly is. The machine is there. The old-guard politics are still alive and well, and I think that Lackawanna County deserves better. For me to infer anything is one thing, but arguably I would ask people to connect the dots and see exactly what’s going on here.”
Flynn rejected the notion that he has any ulterior motive or expects anything in return from Welby.
“I want people I can work with,” Flynn said. “That’s all I want.”
Welby said he’s never allowed himself to be influenced in that way and has never done a “backroom deal.”
“I question their thought process,” he said of the Cappellini campaign. “I guess if they got money that’s what they think is normal. I do not think that that is normal. If that’s the way that they feel about things then shame on them.”
He said in a statement that Flynn has long recognized his desire to work together with people and improve the community.
“He has significant resources and I am grateful (and) thankful that he is using some of those resources to help me continue in what I am able to do for people, organizations, businesses (and) our communities,” Welby said.
The campaign finance reports Welby filed Tuesday were due Friday, with Cappellini questioning the missed deadline in a press release earlier Tuesday. Either the Welby campaign “isn’t organized enough to file timely, or they don’t want you to see from whom they have accepted financial contributions,” that press release said.
Welby took issue with that charge, attributing the filing delay to personal reasons tied to his sister’s deteriorating health and recent death. Anne Marie Welby-Stulgis, a former Scranton police officer and police union president, passed away Sunday after being moved to hospice care during the middle of last week, Welby said. Another sister, Mary Clare Welby, serves as his campaign treasurer.
The suggestion that he was trying to conceal the source of his campaign contributions and only filed when pressured to do so is “disgusting,” Welby said.
Merli said the dispute between Cappellini and Welby is reflective of broader Democratic infighting to the detriment of county residents.
“This is what I’ve been saying, this is my campaign, neither one of them are going to be able to fix it,” Merli said. “This fighting is going to continue until no one is left standing, and the losers are going to be the taxpayers. It’s time for a change.”
While the contribution from Flynn’s committee was by far the largest, it’s not the only contribution connected to a sitting Democratic state lawmaker. As of Oct. 20, Welby had received a $150 contribution from state Rep. Jim Haddock, D-116, Pittston Twp., and another $250 from the Friends of Jim Haddock committee.
Cappellini — endorsed in the special election contest by Democratic state Reps. Kyle Mullins, D-112, Blakley, and Kyle Donahue, D-113, Scranton — reported $1,000 and $2,000 received from the Friends of Kyle Donahue and Friends of Kyle Mullins committees, respectively.
Merli, who reported $17,825 in contributions and receipts as of Oct. 20, subsequently reported a $1,000 contribution from GOP U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan, R-8, Dallas Twp., that he received Oct. 23.
Through Oct. 20, Welby reported $113,412.08 in campaign expenditures, Cappellini reported $66,608 and Merli reported $5,554.69.
The winner of the special election is expected to fill the remainder of former Democratic Commissioner Matt McGloin’s unexpired term running into early January 2028.
Democratic Commissioner Brenda Sacco, who took office last week and filled the seat pursuant to a county Home Rule Charter appointment process, has expressed hope that she, not the special election winner, will finish the term. All three of Welby, Cappellini and Merli have said they expect to serve if elected and would defend their victory in court if necessary.