Cavanagh looks back on gamble that ended in defeat
Former Fayette County Commissioner Sean M. Cavanagh said Wednesday he knew he risked losing out on a Democratic Party nomination when he teamed up with Vincent Zapotosky. But Cavanagh said he doesn’t regret the tactical move because he didn’t want to spend the next four years serving in office with Commissioner Vincent A. Vicites. In Tuesday’s election, Zapotosky and Vicites secured the party’s two nominations, while Cavanagh finished in third place. Finishing a distant fourth and fifth were John “Sonny” Mikita and John “Toots” Croftcheck, respectively.
Cavanagh and Vicites previously served eight years together, and Cavanagh said Wednesday he wanted to avoid that happening again at all costs.
Cavanagh said numerous people advised him that teaming up with Zapotosky was a risk because it could cost him a nomination, but Cavanagh said he doesn’t regret the decision.
“I wanted to win on my terms, and my terms were to win with Vince Zapotosky,” said Cavanagh. “I’m glad Zapotosky won and I’m glad I lost, because I didn’t want to be in there four years with Vince Vicites.”
According to unofficial vote totals with all 103 precincts reporting, Zapotosky received 9,953 votes; Vicites received 8,815 votes, which was 1,138 fewer than Zapotosky; and Cavanagh received 7,910 votes, which was 905 fewer than Vicites.
Mikita received 2,877 votes and Croftcheck received 2,549 votes. The vote totals do not include absentee ballots.
Cavanagh said he believes that Mikita and Croftcheck were put into the race by Vicites to cut the vote. “I don’t operate that way. Where did they mount a serious campaign?” Cavanagh asked. “Vince Vicites wouldn’t dare ever run one-on-one against me. He played his little game and that round is over, and we’ll see what happens in the fall.”
During the last weeks of the campaign, Zapotosky and Cavanagh officially teamed up and ran numerous advertisements critical of Vicites, calling him the highest-taxing commissioner in Fayette County history and criticizing Vicites for taking a $20,000 campaign contribution from Republican Commissioner Joseph A. Hardy III.
The November election will feature voters selecting two candidates from among Vicites, Zapotosky, Hardy and Commission Chairwoman Angela M. Zimmerlink. The top three vote getters will get the positions.
Zapotosky, who finished fourth in a field of five during his first run for commissioner four years ago, said he was surprised he was the top vote getter this time around. “As optimistic as I am, the glass is always half full for others and half empty for me,” Zapotosky said.
He said first and foremost he was thankful to his family and everyone who worked hard for him and supported him. He also offered thanks to his running mate Cavanagh. “He’s a good man. The last three weeks were great,” Zapotosky said of teaming up with Cavanagh. “I just wish the outcome was different.”
Zapotosky said he feels humbled with the support he received and is hopeful the support will continue in the November election. However, Zapotosky said he is aware that no candidate ever gets themselves elected. “It is the people behind them,” Zapotosky said. He also offered congratulations to Vicites, Hardy and Zimmerlink.
While Zapotosky said he met and talked to many new people throughout the campaign, one person stands out from the crowd. “I made a lot of friends during the campaign, but the one I’m proudest to call a friend is Sean,” Zapotosky said.
Despite being in a position for the November election in which Zapotosky will be sharing the Democratic ballot with a man he attempted to defeat, Zapotosky said he is not prepared to think about his general election strategy yet. “I’m too tired to think about November,” he said.
While Zapotosky is not yet thinking about November, Cavanagh said he will be voting for Zapotosky and Zimmerlink.
“The truth be told, Vicites put Mikita and Croftcheck in the race to siphon votes,” Cavanagh said.
Cavanagh said he believes it is dishonorable to just throw your hat into the ring and not really campaign. “There was an alliance between the tandem,” Cavanagh said. He added that if Vicites’ campaign claim that “negative breeds negative” were true, the ads Cavanagh and Zapotosky jointly ran against Vicites would have hurt Zapotosky as well.
Cavanagh said with the loss he now has won commissioner twice and lost twice, but there is no crying over spilled milk. “The people ultimately chose. The most important thing in my life is my family. I made a lot of good friends and learned a lot about Fayette County,” he said.
Cavanagh said he is thankful to everyone who worked hard for him and believed in him. “Elections aren’t life or death; I’ve won twice and I’ve lost twice,” he said.
Cavanagh also said county commissioner is not an easy position and sometimes unpopular decisions are made. “I have powerful enemies out there who didn’t want me to win and that’s OK,” he said. “I was honorable to my running mate. I shared my money and voted for him.”
Cavanagh said he thought he would have done better in Masontown, considering it was Zapotosky’s hometown. He said throughout the campaign he realized he is a true Democrat, something he doesn’t believe Vicites can say. “Clearly, Vicites has an alliance with Hardy. I think Vince Vicites cares more about the position than people,” Cavanagh said.
Cavanagh said he feels bad for the people who supported his campaign. “I think the people in Fayette County need to start demanding excellence out of elected officials,” Cavanagh said. He said Hardy promised “jobs, jobs, jobs” four years ago and hasn’t delivered. “Joe Hardy is a great businessman, but I don think he puts in the effort and time to be a county commissioner,” Cavanagh said.
Cavanagh said he wanted to work with people who wanted to “be real,” like Zapotosky. “We’ll see what happens in the fall. I will regroup and take care of other things,” Cavanagh said. He added that is he still on the State Democratic committee and that if he vacated his current job, he would have taken a pay cut to be commissioner.
“I thought I could win, for sure, but there were tactics employed in this election like cutting up the vote. There were a lot of games played. Vince Vicites pretends not to be a negative politician but he has other people do his dirty work,” Cavanagh said.
Mikita, who denied Cavanagh’s contention that he wasn’t a serious candidate, said he congratulated the winners and wished them the best. Mikita said he figured he would do much better with his vote total, but noted that the 30 percent voter turnout was low. “I campaigned very hard,” Mikita said.
Mikita said he thinks it will be an interesting race in the fall and he hopes the winners keep the citizens at heart. “Whatever is best for the citizens of Fayette County is what I want,” he said.
Vicites did not return calls seeking comment. Croftcheck could not be reached for coment.
On the Republican ticket, where Zimmerlink and Hardy were the only two seeking the available two nominations, Zimmerlink received 3,452 votes and Hardy received 3,326 votes, according to unofficial results.