Democratic City Councilman Frank Joyce earned the Republican nomination for Scranton tax collector and Republican Lackawanna County District Attorney Andy Jarbola picked up a Democratic nomination for his post again, the county's official count of write-in votes shows.
The count also confirmed financial consultant Gary Lewis as the Republican nominee for mayor, but Mr. Lewis said he is considering dropping out of the race because of the difficulty of winning as a Republican in a city with a more than 2 to 1 Democratic voter registration advantage.
"I do believe at this point I'll be moving forward with the campaign, but it's not a secret that it's an uphill battle for a Republican in Scranton, especially someone like me who lacks a political infrastructure," Mr. Lewis said.
The county Republican Party executive committee or, under certain circumstances, its chairman, Lance Stange, would get to replace Mr. Lewis on the ballot if he chooses to drop out depending on the timing. The last day to withdraw is Aug. 12.
Mr. Lewis won the Republican nomination with 635 votes followed by entrepreneur Marcel Lisi with 447. Democratic city Tax Collector Bill Courtright had 387 Republican write-in votes for mayor while fellow Democrat Elizabeth Randol had 344. The official count confirmed Mr. Courtright as the Democratic nominee for mayor.
Mr. Joyce, who lost the Democratic nomination for tax collector to Scranton School Director Bill Fox, polled 190 Republican write-in votes to Mr. Fox's 139 to earn the party's nomination and a rematch in November.
The official count also confirmed the Democratic nominees for Scranton City Council also won the Republican nominations by write-in votes. No Republicans were on the ballot, but Democratic City Councilman Pat Rogan, a former Republican, led the way in GOP write-in votes with 371. The other Democratic nominees were next, Joe Wechsler with 237 and Bill Gaughan with 188. Tim Perry had 151 Republican write-ins, Greg Evans, 130, and Joe Matyjevich, 101.
Mr. Jarbola, who was unopposed for the Republican nomination, earned the Democratic nomination for a third time with 2,158 write-in votes. He previously won the Democratic nomination with write-ins in 2005 and 2009.
Contact the writer: bkrawczeniuk@timesshamrock.com