Mahoney’s write-ins spark speculation
Although conjecture is the order of the day because the official vote won’t be known for weeks, challenger Timothy S. Mahoney’s aggressive write-in campaign against state Rep. Larry Roberts (D-South Union) is generating lots of attention and speculation. “I’m going to get well over 2,000 votes,” predicted Mahoney on Wednesday. “I’m very pleased with (the effort). Everybody was telling me that I’d only get 500 votes.”
Mahoney said that someone gave him an unofficial report that approximately 6,300 to 6,400 Democrats in the 51st District voted in Tuesday’s election, in which Roberts garnered 2,790 unofficial votes. If that voter estimate rings true, Mahoney said, “He (Roberts) better hope that a lot of my stickers didn’t hold (to the voting machine paper).”
Roberts could not be reached for post-election comment. His Uniontown office manager Delores “Toots” Perno said the six-term incumbent was on the road but she would try to get a message to him.
Perno also said that Roberts had lost his cellular telephone while in Washington, D.C., and he could no longer be contacted via that phone number.
But the dean of Fayette County politics, Fred L. Lebder, the long-serving chairman of the county Democratic Party, said that Mahoney achieved a “tremendous actual victory” in getting whatever write-in vote total he achieves.
Lebder, a former seven-term county commissioner, said the Roberts-Mahoney race will be close and that effort by Mahoney’s camp may prove the key to victory.
“It’s going to be very close, from what I see. It’s going to be very interesting,” said Lebder. “This has to be an effort (to succeed): What effort did (he) put into each voting district? If you were around the polls on Election Day, you would see that there was a lot of effort at certain polls and not as much at others.”
Lebder added that while a write-in candidate has never won a nomination for any state or county office during his 60 years in politics, “They had tremendous effort out and you must give credit to that effort.”
Christopher D.L. Sepesy, chairman of the Fayette County Republican Party, said the GOP was “deliriously happy” over the 51st District primary election results of its own candidate, former county Commissioner Harry E. Albert III.
Albert, attempting a political comeback, garnered 1,511 GOP votes in an uncontested nomination. Roberts’ vote total of 2,790 as the lone Democrat on the ballot gave the incumbent 1.8 times as many primary election votes as Albert, in a county where Democrats hold a 3-1 registration edge over Republicans.
Sepesy said Albert’s comparatively strong showing buoys GOP hopes that their candidate can secure the seat come November, especially if Mahoney fails to unseat Roberts now and joins an anticipated field of several independents in the fall.
“This seat, as the days go by, is becoming increasingly winnable for us,” said Sepesy. “I predict a victory in November, as more and more Democrat Party foibles are revealed. …Now is the best time for Fayette County to send a Republican to Harrisburg, instead of an ineffective Democrat -and one who certainly now is seemingly losing popularity on an almost daily basis.”
Albert, running unopposed, joked that he expected “maybe 12” votes to secure his party’s nomination for the right to run against Roberts. He said that he expects from past experience to pick up some Democrat votes in the fall election.
While admitting that Tuesday’s 27 percent voter turnout will likely triple in November, and that a lot can happen politically in coming months, Albert said that Roberts’ weak vote total has boosted his own hopes.
“I don’t know about the two of them (Roberts and Mahoney) going at it, but I do think that Larry going from 4,600 (votes in the 2002 primary) down to not quite 2,800 at least encouraged me,” said Albert. “It’s not (going to be) a typical November race. It’s hard to predict. But I do feel that my chances, having seen these numbers (Tuesday), are much better than before April 27th.”
Lebder added that if Mahoney, who’s currently registered as an independent, beats Roberts for the Democrat nomination on a write-in, Mahoney could conceivably have his name on November’s ballot in two places – one as the Democrat nominee and the other as an independent candidate.
In that case, said Lebder, Mahoney’s votes in both areas would be combined. Lebder said a number of Democrats seeking municipal office through the years have used the write-in strategy to secure the Republican nomination as well.
But Mahoney has said that if he ousts Roberts by write-in, he would switch his voter registration back to Democrat. Mahoney said that while some of his supporters had trouble understanding or carrying out the write-in vote, he wanted to thank everyone who went to the polls on his behalf.
“I think I was blessed that my supporters came out like they did,” said Mahoney. “I think they knew that they were doing the right thing. If I don’t win this write-in (when the official vote count concludes) in a couple of weeks, I sure hope they come back in the fall.”