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KINGSTON — The Republican Party of Luzerne County has a new chairman who plans to work to boost the party’s grassroots efforts in the county between now and the November election.

By a secret ballot vote of 82-62, the Republican county committee on Thursday night chose Ron Ferrance as its new leader. Ferrance immediately assumed the reigns from outgoing chairman Bill Urbanski.

According to its bylaws, the committee convenes its quadrennial convention every four years to elect a chairman, and it did so Thursday night at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 283 in Kingston.

Ferrance said the fact that his son, Brandon, has been very active politically for the last several years played a factor in his decision to run for party chairman.

“We talk about politics a lot, and we were talking about how we always hear the disparity in voter registrations and you hear, ‘What’s it going to matter?’” Ferrance said.

There were more than 105,000 Democrats registered to vote in the county in April compared to less than 69,000 Republicans.

“The people in Northeastern Pennsylvania, they might be registered Democrat, but a lot of them hold the values of the Republican party,” Ferrance said.

“They don’t just go and pull the lever. Their father and their mother were Democrats, and that’s how they register, and that’s the way that it goes. But if we get out and we have an active presence, we can make a difference. And that’s all I want to do is make it more active. Bill did a great job, I just have a different vision, and I have more free time,” he said.

Ferrance noted that Urbanski has an hour’s drive to work as first assistant district attorney in Susquehanna County, as well as a demanding job. Ferrance says he, too, has a demanding job as chief lending officer at a local financial institution, but he also has “a really good staff, and things are running well.”

Urbanski said the county Republican party “made some positive strides over the past four years that I’m very proud of, and I’m very proud of the people that have helped me make those strides. It was an honor and a privilege to serve as the county’s party chair,” he said after the vote.

“I don’t think that Bill feels any less passionate about the party than I do,” Ferrance said. “But I want to have a presence. Some of the counties down by Harrisburg, they have really robust parties. I want to try to replicate that here so that we can make a difference because the way Luzerne County goes is how Pennsylvania goes, which is how the presidential races go.”

Ferrance believes Donald Trump will win the presidential race among Luzerne County voters in November, topping Hillary Clinton.

“I’ve been going out with the PA GOP, and we’ve been talking with swing voters. There’s not really that many swing voters. You talk to them and say, ‘Who do you think?’ And it’s ‘Donald, Donald, Donald,’ without hesitation. It’s a phenomenon that I haven’t experienced before; people just so passionate about a candidate, so I think absolutely he’s going to win Luzerne County,” Ferrance said.

He also believes U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Zionsville, will retain his seat in a battle with Democrat Katie McGinty, and that U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta, R-Hazleton, will beat Mike Marsicano.

“I think the real surprise of this election is going to be Matt Connolly beating (U.S. Rep.) Matt Cartwright. I don’t think Matt Cartwright knows the fight that he has with Matt Connolly,” he said.

Between now and November, Ferrance says he is going to try to “build a framework to have a real grassroots effort … like the Democrats do. The one thing that I admire them for is their ground game,” Ferrance said.

“We have to pick it up and that’s what I’m looking to do here,” he said. “And in conjunction with that, fund raise so that after the election, all these people with this enthusiasm, we can retain them and to help get our elections (won) next year as well so we’re not just a one-time blip.”

Ferrance
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/web1_Ferrance_Ron_square.jpg.optimal.jpgFerrance Steve Mocarsky | Times Leader

Urbanski
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/web1_Urbanski_2_mug-cmyk.jpg.optimal.jpgUrbanski Steve Mocarsky | Times Leader

By Steve Mocarsky

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Reach Steve Mocarsky at 570-991-6386 or on Twitter @TLSteveMocarsky.