In political parlance, an election year that does not have any gubernatorial or national offices on the ballot is considered an “off” year. This means that the turnout will be expected to be low, as all the races are for the most local, and these generally do not arise much passion in the general electorate.

2019 was expected to be such a year, but turned out to quite the opposite. It started on January 17th when Congressman Tom Marino announced his resignation from office due to a life-threatening illness. This immediately threw open the door for every political wannabe in a fifteen-county area to throw their hat in the ring for a special election that Governor Wolf scheduled in conjunction with the regular primary, May 21st.

The Democratic Party decided to choose Marc Friedenberg, a college professor from Penn State, who had previously ran against Marino in the most recent election. The Republican Party had a tougher time, as 24 individuals declared their active interest and another 12 were urged to run but chose not to. On March 2nd, representatives based on population from each of the fifteen counties met in Williamsport to choose between all these potential congresspersons, and after a long day of speeches and ballots, Fred Keller from Union County was finally selected. He went on to easily defeat Marc Friendenberg in the May election.

But not without a little help from a friend — President Donald Trump. The day before the election, President Trump landed Air Force One at the Williamsport Regional Airport and was enthusiastically met by thousands. Most give credit to Trump for one of the largest turnouts in a primary in this region. (And regretfully, not enough credit has gone out to all the agencies in Lycoming County that only received a one week heads-up on the presidential visit, and yet managed this Herculean event without a hiccup.)

It is doubtful that Lycoming County will ever see another primary like the one held on May 21st. Besides the drama of the special election for Congress, there were also nine individuals running on the Republican ticket for the two County Commissioner slots. There were the two incumbents, Tony Mussare and Jack McKernan, Williamsport Mayor Gabe Campana, retired Deputy Director of the Adult Probation Office Scott Metzger, Loyalsock Township Supervisor John Bower, Air Force veteran Steve Brady, and Chad Riley, Kathryn Schultz Nassberg, and Todd Lauer. The jostling for position among the candidates through the months leading up to the election were often testy, as the stakes were very high. When the votes were counted, Tony Mussare and Scott Metzger were chosen to represent the Republican Party on the November ballot.

Although it did not exactly turn out that way. Three of the primary candidates, Jack McKernan, Steve Brady, and Chad Riley decided to run as write-ins, which caused more than a little consternation among the Republican Party as they were concerned it might open up a door for a second Democratic candidate to be elected. That did not happen, as incumbent Rick Mirabito easily won re-election and Elliott Weiss also running on the Democratic ticket finished a distant fourth between top vote-getter Scott Metzger and second-highest Tony Mussare.

This “off” year had another important political race for the office of Mayor of Williamsport. Two very sharp, aspiring young men; Republican Eric Beider and Democrat Derek Slaughter, won their respective primaries and battled it out in a hotly contested race leading up to the November election. Both men were well-educated and articulate (not necessarily typical for those in elected office…), but neither had much political experience under their belts. The debates between the two were intellectually engaging yet quite civil, which hopefully could continue to be a model for others in the future.

When the votes were finally counted, Derek Slaughter was the clear choice for the Williamsport voters to serve as their new mayor. In an extremely tight City Council election, incumbent Bonnie Katz was reelected, along with new members Adam Yoder, Vincent Pulizzi, and Jon Mackey. With a new mayor and three new board members, Williamsport is going to have a fresh team on the field to tackle some serious challenges facing the city in 2020.

Yes, 2020 awaits us all. The coming presidential election will be one for the history books. That is a story for another day. Happy New Year to all!

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