SCRANTON — Mayor Paige Cognetti cruised to victory on Tuesday, easily outdistancing her challengers and stating that her victory and many others by Democratic candidates demonstrate that voters want good government.
“They will elect leaders who are going to show up and fight for them,” said Cognetti, 45. “Although it was my name on the ballot, we all know that something much more fundamental was at stake — integrity was on the ballot, accountability was on the ballot, and the promise of an end to self-serving corruption was on the ballot.”
According to unofficial results from the Lackawanna County Bureau of Elections, Cognetti received 9,701 votes. Her three challengers were far behind: Republican Trish Beynon, 3,589; Independent Eugene Barrett, 3,553; and Independent Rik Little, 154.
Cognetti said she first ran for Mayor in 2019 as an Independent against a Democratic machine that she said wanted to keep using city government to benefit themselves.
“I took on the machine to clean up City Hall, and we got to work by cutting red tape, fixing our finances, attracting new businesses, putting more cops on the beat, building new parks, and making real reforms,” Cognetti said. “We have shown the rest of the country what government can do when it works as hard as the people it’s elected to serve.”
Cognetti ran for Mayor, but in September she announced that she would run for the Democratic nomination in the 8th Congressional District, occupied by freshman U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan, R-Dallas Township.
“Washington politicians could learn a thing or two from our efforts,” Cognetti said. “We work hard, we look out for our neighbors, we lead with transparency, and we get things done. That’s how it should be.”
Despite her plan to run for Congress, Cognetti said she loves being the mayor of Scranton.
“I made the decision to run for Congress next year to take on a corrupt Washington that has left our community behind — while politicians get richer, our costs keep rising, and we get sold out,” Cognetti said. “Nobody works harder than the people of Northeastern Pennsylvania, and we are tired of corrupt politicians lying to us and leaving us behind.”
After Cognetti shocked the political establishment and won the Mayor’s seat, she said she took on the bosses in her own party to clean up City Hall and get government back to working for the people.
In Scranton, Cognetti said she has demonstrated what government can achieve when leaders root out corruption and work as diligently as the people they are elected to serve.
Now, Cognetti said she is running to clean up “a corrupt Washington” and defeat Bresnahan, who she said has become the “poster-child of the swamp.”
When she entered the race, she said she immediately received significant local support and has earned the endorsement of Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor Austin Davis, former U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright, and U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio. Cognetti said in 2022, Gov. Josh Shapiro and Lieutenant Governor Austin Davis carried PA-08 by more than 9 percentage points.
Cognetti lives in Scranton with her husband and two daughters.
She was the first woman ever elected Scranton Mayor, and was eight months pregnant when she won. Cognetti ran for reelection as a Democrat in 2021, winning a full term with over 71% of the vote.
As Mayor of Scranton, Cognetti said she has made government reform a top priority.
In office she said she has:
• Turned down the city government car and gas card.
• Eliminated cash payments and took on no-bid contracts.
• Took on utilities and fought big businesses gouging consumers.
• Held more than 100 public events across every neighborhood in the city.
• Cut red tape, slashing building permit fees.
• Led the city’s credit rating to investment-grade status.
• Saved millions for taxpayers by refinancing bonds.
Cognetti said she has reinvigorated the city’s finances and helped attract new businesses while simultaneously laying a solid foundation for a brighter future — restoring confidence through responsible government and re-imagining outdated ways of doing business.