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Incumbent Luzerne County Council candidates Edward Brominski and Stephen A. Urban have been snubbed by Democratic Party leaders — again.
The party’s executive committee met last week and decided to endorse only four of the party’s six council nominees in the November general election, purposely excluding Brominski and Urban, the candidates said.
The move stands out because the committee is rejecting two men who were selected by party voters in the May primary.
Brominski and Urban — who both also had been commissioners under the previous system of county government — were not endorsed in the May primary, but that was before the will of party voters was known.
Nine Democrats ran in the primary. In addition to Urban and Brominski, party voters chose four of the six Democratic-endorsed contenders: incumbent Tim McGinley, Jane Walsh Waitkus, John Gadomski and Anthony J. Rostock. These four will be endorsed again in November.
Two party-endorsed candidates did not receive primary nominations from the party’s voters — John J. Pekarovsky and Robert Schnee.
County Democratic Chairman Michael DeCosmo, Hazle Township, said a letter Brominski wrote to newspapers shortly after the primary swayed most committee members against endorsing him. In the letter, Brominski highlighted some past council decisions that he made along with Urban and incumbent Republican Councilman Stephen J. Urban and criticized votes made by McGinley.
Committee’s logic
DeCosmo said many committee members did not want to endorse someone who publicly praised a Republican contender while pledging to campaign against McGinley, who was endorsed and the highest vote-getter in the council primary race.
Urban did not seek the party endorsement in the primary or general, DeCosmo said.
The options at the endorsement meeting were to back all six primary nominees, only the four who had the primary endorsements or none, DeCosmo said. Members voted more than 2-1 to endorse only the four, he said.
Brominski said he does not know why some party leaders are “so adamant about not putting us on the ticket.”
“They have such a vendetta against Steve and I. I don’t understand it,” he said.
Urban shrugged off the endorsement decision.
“As far as I’m concerned, Edd and I got endorsed in the primary by the people who voted for us,” he said, noting voters in the general election are free to pick contenders from any political party.
“This is not one-party voting. It’s an open general election,” he said.
Insiders say some party leaders are turned off by Urban and Brominski because they view them as mavericks. The men are part of a vocal minority that frequently challenges the actions of the administration and council colleagues — an approach that is viewed as warranted or disruptive, depending on the observer and issue.
There’s also bad blood between Urban and state Sen. John Yudichak, D-Plymouth Township, who has a powerful voice in the party leadership. Urban has continued to publicly criticize Yudichak since Urban unsuccessfully ran against him for state senator in 2010.
Brominski said one party leader told him he would not endorse him because Brominski didn’t push for his reappointment to a county authority board.
“I support appointments from all parties, not just Democrats,” Brominski said. “I’ve won and lost elections before. It won’t affect me either way. If people really want me, I’ll be there.”
Party spending
The county Democratic Party spent $35,106 supporting its endorsed candidates for the primary, campaign finance records show.
This covered television and newspaper advertisements, event functions, poll cards, signs and poll workers, records show.
Urban said he does not believe the party’s primary election media blast was effective, particularly newspaper advertisements that singled out Urban for intense criticism. Urban produced examples of his voting record that dispelled claims in the ad.
“People told me they got angry when they saw this attack ad because they knew the issues they were raising were in fact untruthful,” Urban said.
Schnee will appear on the ballot because he received a Republican write-in nomination.
DeCosmo said some committee members wanted to endorse Schnee because he is still a Democrat, but the idea was scrapped because party rules don’t allow endorsements of a candidate running on the Republican ticket.
Republicans also nominated Marc Dixon, Ray Gustave, Eugene Kelleher, Mark Rabo, and Stephen J. Urban.
Rostock recently received treatment for a medical emergency, but he said Friday he is recuperating and still in the race.
“I’m getting better every day. I’m definitely going to run,” Rostock said.