The Lackawanna County Democratic Committee’s role in temporarily filling a commissioner vacancy under the county’s Home Rule Charter survived a protracted legal battle, with the state Supreme Court ruling against Democratic Commissioner Bill Gaughan and the county in an opinion issued Monday.
The implications of the Supreme Court ruling were not immediately clear. The charter provision in question pertains to an appointment process, and a special election to fill the vacancy created by former Democratic Commissioner Matt McGloin’s late February resignation is scheduled for Nov. 4.
Gaughan and the county initiated the litigation in March, specifically challenging the charter provision that tasked the county Democratic Committee with submitting three applicants to potentially replace McGloin for consideration by the judges of the county Court of Common Pleas. Gaughan and the county argued the charter process violated state Rule of Judicial Administration 1908, which would remove the Democratic committee from the replacement process and place it solely in the hands of the county judges.
The legal fight continued through the spring and summer, with the majority of a panel of three senior county judges ruling against Gaughan and the county in May and the state Commonwealth Court upholding in July the county panel’s majority ruling. The Supreme Court agreed to hear a narrow appeal of whether Rule 1908 overrides the charter section directing the county judges to choose from a pool of three candidates submitted by the committee.
In affirming the earlier Commonwealth Court decision, the Supreme Court justices ruled it does not. Justice Kevin Dougherty did not participate in the decision.
Monday’s Supreme Court opinion ends a legal fight that delayed the appointment of McGloin’s replacement. The county judges moved in early September to appoint former county Economic Development Director Brenda Sacco to fill the vacant seat, but that appointment was stayed pending a resolution to Gaughan and the county’s legal challenge.
Sacco’s near appointment followed a surprising late August vote by the county Board of Elections declaring a Nov. 4 special election to fill the remainder of McGloin’s term running into early January 2028. The Democratic committee, Sacco and a pair of other potential appointees sued seeking an injunction to block the special election, which survived the legal challenge in county court and on appeal.
Sacco didn’t seek candidacy in the special election and has not publicly expressed a desire to accept a temporary appointment. She said Monday her attorney would be issuing a statement.
It’s not immediately clear if or how the county judges might proceed with a temporary appointment in light of Monday’s state Supreme Court decision.
Commissioner candidates in the special election include Democrat Thom Welby, Republican Chet Merli and independent Michael Cappellini.
Gaughan said in a statement Monday that he respects the Supreme Court decision and is “very comforted by the knowledge that the voters of Lackawanna County will decide who permanently fills the vacancy.”
‘Bittersweet victory’
Attorney Adam Bonin, who represented the Democratic committee throughout the legal battle, said he’s “thrilled for my client that the argument that we’ve maintained all along is right.”
“But it’s a bittersweet victory, because if Commissioner Gaughan hadn’t stalled this thing for seven months now, seven-plus months, Brenda Sacco could have been serving all this time,” Bonin said. “And she would then be in a position that … if they decided again to make this last-minute call for a special election she would have gotten her feet wet and she would have had a record to run on.”
“I feel bad for Brenda and I feel bad for the residents of the county that this baseless litigation stalled things out for so long,” he said.
Gaughan defended his legal challenge while taking another apparent shot at the Democratic committee process he’s long criticized as politically tainted.
“I pursued this course from the beginning to ensure that the new commissioner is the result of the will of the people, not a few guys in a backroom someplace,” he said.
County Democratic Party Chairman Chris Patrick also issued a statement, blasting Gaughan while arguing the commissioner’s “immaturity, arrogance and obsession with control have made him unfit to serve.”
“Every court in Pennsylvania, including the Supreme Court, has made it clear — he was wrong,” Patrick said of Gaughan. “But instead of accepting responsibility, he doubled down, wasting taxpayer money and embarrassing Lackawanna County in the process.”
County officials have said the law firm representing Gaughan and the county in the legal battle over the McGloin vacancy, Myers, Brier & Kelly, would not bill the county for that representation.
Patrick also referenced “backroom” and “insider politics,” accusing Gaughan of attempting to hand-pick McGloin’s replacement in Cappellini, the independent commissioner candidate Gaughan recently endorsed in the special election.
“Voters have the chance to end this cycle of insider politics at the polls and send Bill Gaughan, Cappellini, and the real machine packing once and for all,” he said.
Cappellini emphasized late Monday that no one approached him about running in the special election. Running for commissioner was a goal of his long before the special election was declared, he said.
Gaughan said Patrick should look in the mirror, “because everything he is saying about me is actually what he has been doing since the very beginning.”
For years, Gaughan said, Patrick has “operated in the shadows, cutting political deals, protecting insiders and manipulating the local Democratic committee to serve his own interests.”
“His tantrum isn’t relevant, and he’s really not relevant,” Gaughan said. “What is relevant is that the voters of Lackawanna County will pick the next county commissioner.”
Originally Published: October 20, 2025 at 5:29 PM EDT