PECKVILLE, Pa. -- Lackawanna County Commissioner Pat O’Malley failed to make his bid for a third term in office as he conceded the primary race for the ticket nearly two hours after the polls closed.
O’Malley and his running mate Debi Domenick, an attorney and Dunmore native, had been looking to defeat Democratic opponents fellow incumbent Commissioner Jerry Notarianni and his running mate George Kelly.
“Elections are a roll of the dice. It’s a gamble every time you run for public office and anybody who signs up and get their petitions out, that’s where you put yourself,“ O’Malley said.
Domenick claimed the victory in her race but says it’s tough to celebrate considering her running mate lost.
“It’s my first political endeavor and it’s amazing. It’s bittersweet though. I was anticipating a victory with Pat O’Malley who was the one who gave me this opportunity,“ Domenick said.
Incumbent Commissioner Jerry Notarianni will also move on to the general election in November.
O’Malley is a lifelong Scranton resident and former Scranton School Board member who switched from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party in 2015, near the end of his first term as commissioner. O’Malley ran with Jim Wansacz and finished second in the 2015 Democratic primary. Jerry Notarianni received the most votes in that primary. O’Malley and Notarianni were elected commissioners in the general election.
Domenick is a lawyer from Dunmore who graduated from the University of Scranton and Dickinson School of Law. She has worked in private practice for years and opened her own firm in 2011. Domenick is also a trial lawyer for the Lackawanna County Public Defender’s Office.
