![\"Democrat](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/JeffreyLakeHeadShot.jpg\")
Democrat Jeffrey Lake announced Thursday plans to run for state Senate in the 22nd state Senate District next year. (Photo Courtesy of Jeffry Lake)<\/p>\nDemocratic State Sen. Marty Flynn did not rule out a potential 2026 Congressional run after a local nonprofit founder announced Thursday his plans to enter next year\u2019s Democratic primary for Flynn\u2019s state Senate seat.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell you never know,\u201d Flynn, 50, said when asked if he\u2019s considering entering the Democratic primary field for the 8th Congressional District seat currently held by Republican U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan. \u201cWe\u2019ll see.\u201d<\/p>\n
That primary field already includes Democratic Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti and self-described \u201cpro-life Democrat\u201d Francis McHale of Scranton, both of whom seek the Democratic nomination and hope to defeat Bresnahan in the 2026 midterm elections. Flynn, D-22, Dunmore, who would be up for reelection next year should he seek another term representing the 22nd state Senate District, said he doesn\u2019t run for two things at the same time.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always keep my options open,\u201d he said. \u201cTime will tell.\u201d<\/p>\n
The newspaper asked Flynn about his plans after Democrat Jeffrey Lake, 35, announced his 2026 candidacy for state Senate in the 22nd District. Lake, a Scranton native and Clarks Summit resident who considers himself a progressive Democrat, \u201chas worked as a practical nurse, outpatient therapist, and founded a local community mental health nonprofit, The Lake Foundation,\u201d his announcement notes.<\/p>\n
Democrat Jeffrey Lake announced Thursday plans to run for state Senate in the 22nd state Senate District next year. (Photo Courtesy of Jeffry Lake)<\/p>\n
The foundation \u201cserves to strengthen the mental health literacy of Northeastern Pennsylvania by providing public education, community advocacy, and promoting overall psychological well-being,\u201d per its website.<\/p>\n
Flynn, a former state representative for the 113th state House District, won a 2021 special election to finish the unexpired term of former state Sen. John Blake, who resigned. Flynn did not face a primary challenger in 2022 and won a full four-year state Senate term that November by comfortably defeating Republican Tom Bassett of Pittston.<\/p>\n
Asked about Lake\u2019s announcement, Flynn said \u201cgood for him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d put my record up against anybody\u2019s,\u201d Flynn said.<\/p>\n
Lake, seeking elected office for the first time, outlined a number of goals, including making life in Northeast Pennsylvania more affordable, increasing the region\u2019s supply of affordable housing and expanding access to mental health services.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy lived experience is what really gets me to this point,\u201d Lake said. \u201cI grew up relying on public benefits. My family depended on food assistance and public health care. We lived in public housing \u2026 so I\u2019ve seen every aspect of what our community deals with.\u201d<\/p>\n
He\u2019s also generally opposed to artificial intelligence data center development, citing concerns about their impact on the environment, electricity prices and residents\u2019 quality of life.<\/p>\n
Pennsylvania\u2019s 22nd state Senate District includes parts of Lackawanna and Luzerne counties. The 2026 primary election is scheduled for May 19.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Democratic State Sen. Marty Flynn did not rule out a potential 2026 Congressional run after a local nonprofit…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":52306,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[201,182,883,803,139,28,50,178,180,179],"class_list":{"0":"post-52305","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-scranton","8":"tag-lackawanna-county","9":"tag-local-news","10":"tag-local-politics","11":"tag-luzerne-county","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-pennsylvania","14":"tag-politics","15":"tag-scranton","16":"tag-scranton-headlines","17":"tag-scranton-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52305","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52305"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52305\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52306"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}