SCRANTON, Pa. — Mayor Paige Cognetti declared victory at her campaign HQ around 9:30 p.m.
Her campaign team said they went into tonight very confident, their internal numbers showing her with more than 70 percent of the vote. But the county's election numbers show an even bigger lead over her opponent.
This is another peculiar election night in Scranton amid the COVID era.
Mayor Cognetti opted to not have a party for her campaign volunteers. Instead, they gathered on Lackawanna Avenue for her victory speech.
Cognetti's opponent, Republican Darwin Shaw, is a newcomer to politics.
In her remarks, Cognetti thanked him saying she appreciated the debate of ideas they had during the run-up to tonight.
Then, the mayor moved on to her plans for her first full term as mayor.
"This new four-year term that will start in January, we'll continue to build on the progress we've made. We're looking forward to building a more vibrant, equitable local economy, so young people who grew up here don't have to move away or drive long distances to find a job. We're preparing for Scranton to finally after 29 years it's financially distressed label and are doing the hard work to keep Scranton on track for financial stability," she said.
Cognetti says the financially distressed status could be gone shortly after she begins her next term in January, which would mean for the first time in nearly three decades, the city's finances would not be dictated by the state.
Watch Cognett's speech:
Original story:
Paige Cognetti is the incumbent mayor, having won a special election in November 2019. She replaced disgraced former Mayor Bill Courtright, who pleaded guilty to federal corruption charges. Cognetti ran as an independent in 2019 and won with 36.5% of the vote amidst a large field of contenders. This time around, she is running for a full term as a Democrat.
Paige Cognetti, a Beaverton, Oregon native, got her bachelor's degree at the University of Oregon and a master's in business from Harvard. She worked as a teacher in Japan in the early 2000s before coming to Pennsylvania to work on Chris Carney's successful congressional run in 2006. Cognetti then worked for Hillary Clinton's campaign in 2008 and was hired by Barack Obama's campaign to help coordinate campaign workers from out of state here in Pennsylvania. She parlayed that into a job as a special assistant in the U.S. Treasury Department. Cognetti met her husband, Ryan, the owner of a grocery store in South Abington Township, during her time on the Carney campaign. She worked for Goldman, Sachs & Co. for two years before moving to our area. Scranton School Directors appointed her to the school board in 2017, but she quit in December of 2018 to work in Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale's office and helped write a scathing report of the Scranton School District. Cognetti easily defeated challenger John Murray in the Democratic Primary.
Darwin Shaw was the only Republican on the ballot in the spring. He is a minister who was born and raised in Scranton, whose website lists "the fight for social justice" and "progressive change" among his core values. He pledges to "fix the roads and clean up Scranton blight…protect the elderly…and improve our economic condition for both the small business owners and residents of Scranton."
ELECTION RESULTS: Get the latest updates on the 2021 Pennsylvania municipal election here.
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