If President Donald Trump lived in Waverly Twp., he might have won the township auditor election with a couple more votes.
Same goes for Clint Eastwood.
Voters wrote in the names of the president and the actor/director who once served as Carmel, California, mayor for the auditor job. They were among many silly and clearly sarcastic write-in votes cast Nov. 5 for various elected jobs across Lackawanna County.
It happens every Election Day, most often in races with no candidates on the ballot, though not as much at this one for some reason.
“It wasn’t as bad,” said Marion Medalis, the county director of elections. “I think people are being a lot more conscientious.”
Medalis’ job includes determining if election winners are registered to vote in the towns they won office, the main reason Trump and Eastwood couldn’t serve if they won.
She didn’t have to make the residency call on Trump and Eastwood because they only got one vote each. Sandy Davidock won the job with two votes. She didn’t actually seek the auditor seat, but apparently a couple of neighbors wrote in her name so she plans to do it.
“I like Clint,” Davidock said. “Hopefully, someone else beats Trump next year.”
Eastwood and Trump were among 15 people to get write-in votes for the Waverly auditor job, mainly because no one was on the ballot for it.
Earlier this week, Dunmore residents learned that Janet Brier scored 2,323 write-in votes to surprisingly beat two candidates — incumbent Councilmen Michael Hayes and Michael McHale — who appeared on the ballot.
Brier mounted a write-in campaign because of dissatisfaction with Hayes and McHale over their vote on a Keystone Sanitary Landfill zoning matter.
The official vote count’s completion Wednesday revealed Brier actually scored a victory over Keystone’s co-owners, too. Louis DeNaples received two write-in votes, and his brother, Dominick, one. Dominick DeNaples’ voter misspelled his first name, dropping the “k.”
Of course, unlike Brier, the DeNaples brothers didn’t seek a council seat, but imagine if they did.
Dominick DeNaples actually finished in a tie with Pat Clark, whose voter added an “e” to his last name. Clark leads Friends of Lackawanna, which is trying to thwart Keystone’s expansion plans.
Also tied with them: Ronald McDonald, Zorro, Tonto and Trigger — 1940s western movie star Roy Rogers’ horse.
Jessica Rothchild, who actually won a seat on Scranton City Council, also got a write-in council vote in Dunmore.
Businessman Bob Bolus got single write-in votes in two other towns besides the 303 for mayor in Scranton. Bolus had one in the Carbondale mayor’s race. Democratic incumbent Justin Taylor easily won there with 744 votes, despite a strong last-minute write-in campaign by young Republican Sarah Sweet, who received 337 write-in votes.
Bolus also got a write-in for South Abington Twp. auditor. So did Paige C. (presumably Scranton Mayor- elect Paige Cognetti), the FBI Scranton Office (presumably because of its arrest of ex-Scranton Mayor Bill Courtright) and Gene DePasquale (presumably the state auditor general and soon Cognetti’s former boss).
So did Alf, the shaggy extraterrestrial character from a 1980s TV show.
By the way, Bolus’ Scranton mayor total actually places him ahead of tattoo artist John Goshleski’s 76 votes, seventh among the eight candidates. Mayor Wayne Evans got 20 write-in votes.
Besides the Sweet votes, quite a few Carbondale voters for mayor expressed clear disdain for Taylor, who has resisted paying school district and county taxes on some of his properties for reasons he has largely refused to explain.
Seven voted for “Anyone Else,” 18 for Joe Miegoc, a former Times-Tribune staffer who unsuccessfully sought a council seat through write-in votes, two for Jesus Christ, and one each for Minnie Mouse, Mickey Mouse, Mittens the Cat, Any Republican, Someone Who Will Pay Taxes, Joe the Taxpayer, John Q. Public, Goffey Disney (Goofy, maybe?) and Bolus. Mickey also got a write-in vote for West Abington auditor.
Strangely, voters never seem to have a problem spelling Mickey Mouse, who has received many accurately spelled write-in votes in a variety of local elections over the years.
In Scranton, voters also cast one write-in each for mayor for Cocoa Puff and Corrupty McBriberton.
Someone’s Uncle Pat also got a vote.
In the Jefferson Twp. auditor’s race, Ceatana Keating won with 19 votes, defeating one-vote-getters DePasquale, Superman, Alice Cooper, Joe Biden and Patrick O’Malley.
The write-in vote didn’t say it was for county Commissioner Patrick O’Malley, but the commissioner can now infer he tied in an election with the former vice president who wants to beat Trump next year.
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