Democrat Thom Welby holds a healthy lead in the special election for Lackawanna County commissioner over his Republican and independent counterparts, ahead by thousands of votes as counting continues.

With 96 of the county’s 163 precincts reporting election day results, Welby currently has 20,592 total votes to Republican Chet Merli’s 12,536 and independent candidate Michael Cappellini’s 10,549, unofficial results show.

The Democrat jumped out to a big lead by earning more than 60% of mail-in votes cast. He has also won the Election Day vote to this point, but by a smaller margin. Welby’s Election Day total currently stands 10,982, more than Merli’s 9,932 and Cappellini’s 6,833.

A Scrantonian, Welby previously won a 2021 special election to replace former state Rep. Marty Flynn as the 113th state House District’s representative when Flynn became a state senator.

Merli, a Blakely resident who chairs the borough’s planning commission, also serves on the board of the Lackawanna County Regional Planning Commission.

Cappellini, a cigar brand ambassador from Jessup, has characterized his independent campaign as an alternative for county voters tired of “old-guard politics.”

The winner is expected to fill the remainder of former Democratic Commissioner Matt McGloin’s unexpired term running into early January 2028, replacing recently appointed Democratic Commissioner Brenda Sacco once the results are certified. While Sacco has said she hopes to hold the seat for the remainder of the unexpired term, all three of Welby, Merli and Cappellini have said they expect to serve if elected and would defend their victory in court if need be.

The background

The special election, declared by the county election board in late August, follows months of Democratic infighting in and out of court over who should replace McGloin and which process should determine his replacement.

Sacco secured the temporary appointment pursuant to a county Home Rule Charter process that Democratic Commissioner Bill Gaughan and the county challenged in court. That litigation began in March and concluded last month, when a state Supreme Court ruling upholding the charter process enabled Sacco to take office. The lengthy legal battle long delayed the process of seating McGloin’s successor.

The Home Rule Charter process that survived Gaughan and the county’s legal challenge tasked the county Democratic Committee with advancing three potential appointees to fill the commissioner vacancy for consideration by the commissioned judges of the county Court of Common Pleas, who ultimately chose Sacco. Gaughan has long criticized the committee process as opaque and politically tainted, allegations county Democratic Party Chairman Chris Patrick has repeatedly rejected.

Before the litigation challenging the charter process was resolved, Sacco and the Democratic Committee filed a lawsuit in September seeking an injunction to block the special election they argued was unlawful. A panel of county judges denied the injunction and a state appellate court judge later affirmed the county court panel’s ruling, allowing the special election to proceed.

Despite seeking to block it, the county Democratic Committee chose Welby as the Democratic nominee in the special election. The county Republican Committee chose Merli. Cappellini, who said he requested the Democratic nomination but never heard back from party officials, secured the requisite signatures to run as an independent.

Sacco’s brief tenure as a commissioner has been contentious, with she and Republican Commissioner Chris Chermak recently forming a de facto bipartisan majority and voting together to make Sacco chairwoman of the Board of Commissioners, replacing Gaughan in that role. She and Chermak also replaced county Solicitor Donald Frederickson with Sacco’s personal attorney, Paul James Walker of Clarks Summit, who recently sent the county president judge a letter seeking clarity on the composition of the county election board tasked with certifying the special election and other election results.

The election board is currently made of county Judges Terrence R. Nealon, Margaret Bisignani-Moyle and Frank Ruggiero.

Gaughan described the letter as part of a “scheme” by Sacco to get on the election board — commissioners fill the election board in years the office of commissioner isn’t on the ballot — so she can vote against certifying the special election results in an attempt to remain in office. Walker rejected the premise, arguing Sacco couldn’t legally vote for or against certifying the results of that race even if she were on the election board.

In a social media post last week, Sacco said she would honor the “lawful result” of the special election.

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