SUNBURY - A Republican newcomer and the three incumbents won Tuesday's primary election race for Northumberland County commissioner, the current officeholders overcoming several recent high-profile controversies to get a chance for re-election in November.
Rick Shoch, a Sunbury attorney in his first bid for public office, joined Merle Phillips in winning the two Republican nominations from a field of seven, while Vinny Clausi and Frank Sawicki were the top two vote-getters in the four-person Democratic race.
Clausi and Phillips were named just last week in a federal lawsuit filed by former chief clerk/assistant solicitor Kymberley Best, and Clausi was hit at the same time with a sexual harassment complaint filed with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission by Best.
"With all the allegations, I thought the votes would be closer," Clausi said by phone from the Springfield Banquet Hall in Coal Township Tuesday night. "I'm glad the people didn't buy that," said Clausi, 57, of Coal Township, who led the Democratic nomination with 3,236 votes. Sawicki, 65, of Atlas, tallied 2,912 votes to finish second.
Myron F. Turlis, of Kulpmont, was in the running throughout the night, garnering 2,771 votes.
Dodie Rippon-Lovett, 61, of Dalmatia, was last on the Democratic side with 1,458 votes.
The Republican nomination featured a close race between commissioner and former longtime state Rep. Merle Phillips, 82, of Upper Augusta Township, and political newcomer Rick Shoch, a 44-year-old attorney from Sunbury.
Phillips was the high vote-getter with 2,591, while Shoch tallied 2,500 votes.
They defeated fellow Republican candidates Samuel Schiccatano, 57, of Coal Township (1,668 votes); Terry L. Curran, 63, of Snydertown (1,289); Thomas G. Aber, 66, of Milton (1,263); Larry Wary, 50, of Snydertown (1,093); and Charles P. Horvath, 58, of Rush Township (910).
Clausi, Sawicki, Shoch and Phillips will face off in the Nov. 8 general election for the three commissioner seats.
Clausi said his job as county commissioner started nearly four years ago when he promised the taxpayers he would clean up the "corruption and mismanagement" in the county.
"The county belonged to the politicians," Clausi said. "It did not belong to the taxpayers. I hope it never goes back to that."
Clausi said he will continue to serve the county and let his record speak for itself.
Sawicki, while thankful the Democratic voters chose him as one of the candidates to run in the general election, expressed frustration when asked whether he thought the controversial issues - including his own misplaced phone call in relation to the potential purchase of the Elks building in Sunbury - would have had more of an effect on the outcome.
"This is a non-issue for me," he said via a phone call from the Pine Burr Inn in Atlas. "Why did Clausi wait 3 1/2 months?" to reveal the phone call, he asked. "Was that a political move? It's insane," he said.
Sawicki, who serves as chairman of the board, said he ran a clean race that focused on the real issues, such as his number one goal of restoring fiscal responsibility to the county.
"That was my plan then in 2003 and that remains my plan today," he said. "I think we've had some remarkable achievements that can be attributed to the chairman and the other two members of the board."
Interviewed at the administrative center late Tuesday night, Shoch said, "I'm very pleased and surprised by the numbers. I'm grateful to the voters and my campaign workers. Tonight's a happy night."
Shoch said he was undecided if he will "team up" with Phillips for the general election.
Phillips, when contacted at home, added, "I appreciate all the voters who supported me. There's a good future for Northumberland County and it's time to move ahead. I plan on starting tomorrow (Wednesday). We must get industry in the county because that generates a lot of things, including taxes. This is a good county, but we have to sell it."
Phillips added, "We must get rid of partisanship in the county and work together for the betterment of the county taxpayers to get more things accomplished. I've seen the difference in what working together can accomplish in the past six to eight weeks."