The general election of 2019 was unusual for several reasons.

There was a new voting process involving paper ballots instead of voting machines. There was an incumbent Lycoming County commissioner and incumbent Williamsport mayor, both running write-in campaigns. And there was a life-long Republican whose ballot petition was contested by another Republican for the office of Lycoming County Register and Recorder, which resulted in her running on the ballot as a Democrat. Jim Webb Jr. has eloquently elaborated as only he can on these matters in his editorials in October, so there is no need to review them again. (Go to webbweekly.com to read Jim’s pre-election editorials — they are priceless!)

But now that the smoke has cleared from the election on November 5th, what conclusions can be made?

I think three observations are worth noting.

First, primaries are primary. A good example was County Commissioner Jack McKernan’s write-in campaign for reelection. He was the top vote-getter among the commissioner candidates in 2015, but he lost narrowly in the primary in May of this year by 1,200 votes. Doing the math that 12,000 votes were spread among six other Republican primary challengers, McKernan figured he could pick up enough of those votes to bump Democrat Rick Mirabito — whose numbers would probably be less than 8,000.

It was a good idea in theory, and McKernan ran an incredibly well designed and well-staffed campaign, but in the end, he came in fifth, even running behind Democrat challenger Elliott Weiss. They were on the ballot, and Jack was not. He was a write-in. The same fate befell Williamsport Mayor Gabe Campana, who polled under two percent. The lesson to be learned is that voters like to clear the field in the primaries and do not appreciate do-overs.

Another observation is that there is a refreshing movement toward youth. The new Williamsport Mayor, Derek Slaughter, is in his thirties, as are new Williamsport council members Adam Yoder and Vincent Pulizzi. Some younger candidates won in other area municipal offices as well. It is obvious that the voters of Lycoming County want some new and fresh ideas to tackle the challenges of the future.

The last observation is that Lycoming County has much to be proud of in terms of our participation in the electoral process. Better than a third of our registered voters came out to vote in an ‘off-year’ election. This was not as high as the primary, but that election was right on the heels of President Trump’s visit. Around the state, the voting turnout was somewhat tepid. The northeastern part of the state was polling roughly 30 percent, and Western PA was around 25 percent. Lycoming County has consistently turned out when it comes time to vote.

Our civic responsibility is not just shown in the voting booth but also in other areas such as jury duty. Some counties have to send the sheriff deputies out to pick up citizens who scoff their jury assignments just to be able to hold a trial. The Lycoming County judges note that this is not a problem here. When called, we serve.

There are some other reflections that will be addressed, such as some ways that our voting practices can be improved, which will be the subject of next week’s column. We also have some newly elected officials that we will be focusing on more closely in the future. For now, we can celebrate that we have continued a unique heritage that dates back 232 years. At the close of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, a lady stopped Benjamin Franklin as he left Independence Hall on the final day of deliberation. She asked him, “Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?” Franklin replied, “A republic…if you can keep it.”

Larry Stout welcomes your comments or input. He can be reached by email: lionwebbweekly@gmail.com.