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Attorney is latest to announce candidacy for one of three court seats amid Luzerne County scandal.

By Bill O'Boyle boboyle@timesleader.com
Times Leader Staff Writer
Bill O'Boyle on Facebook   |   @TLBillOboyle on Twitter

More than 60 friends and family of attorney Michael Blazick listened intently as the 17th candidate for judge of the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas told his story.

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Attorney Michael Blazick of Mountain Top announces his candidacy for Luzerne County judge on Thursday at the Waterfront Grill in Plains Township. He is one of 17 candidates running for three seats.

Pete G. Wilcox / The Times Leader

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Supporters listen as attorney Michael Blazick of Mountain Top makes his announcement at the Waterfront Grill in Plains Township.

Pete G. Wilcox / The Times Leader

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While children colored and adults nibbled on pretzels and potato chips, Blazick, 35, said it was time for him to get involved.

“We are in the middle of a meltdown of public confidence in our courts,” Blazick said. “I am compelled to get off the sidelines.”

Blazick said he has earned the respect of colleagues as a skilled advocate who treats opposing attorneys and litigants with “the fairness, dignity and respect necessary to preserve our adversarial system of justice.”

Blazick said he is the “17th and last” candidate to announce his candidacy for three open seats on the county bench.

“We all know that the theme of the election will be restoring honor and integrity to our courthouse and judicial system,” he said. “From my perspective, the only people that truly have an opportunity to restore honor and integrity to the courthouse is you – the members of our community who must demand change, demand impartiality, demand accountability, and demand transparency.”

Blazick said voters are challenged to “sift through the rhetoric of the political campaigns and television advertisements” to learn as much as they can about the candidates, their experience, reputations and demeanor.

“This cannot be a campaign of slogans,” he said. “It must be a campaign of action.”

Blazick grew up in Hanover Township and graduated from Bishop Hoban High School. He attended Susquehanna University and Temple University School of Law, graduating in 1998.

He served as a clerk on the Pennsylvania Superior Court and then worked at the Philadelphia law firm of Marshall, Dennehey, Warner, Coleman & Goggin, where he handled medical malpractice, product liability, pharmaceutical liability and complex insurance disputes.

He then returned to the area and worked at Hourigan, Kluger & Quinn and The Perry Law Firm, LLC. He opened his own practice in March, 2008.

Blazick and his wife, Kate, have two children – Hillary, 6, and Owen, 4. They live in Mountain Top.

The candidates

There are 17 attorneys in the race for judge of the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas. They are: Richard Hughes, the only registered Republican, and Democrats Anthony Lumbis, Joseph Musto, Molly Hanlon Mirabito, Michael Blazick, Michael Pendolphi, Joe Terrana, Joseph Sklarosky Jr., Steve Menn, Daniel Zola, Thomas O’Connor, Eugene Sperazza, Jennifer Rogers, Tina Polachek Gartley, Thomas Marsilio, C.J. Bufalino, and William Amesbury.

All will cross-file on both party tickets to run for three seats on the bench. Primaries will be held May 19 and the general election is Nov. 3.

Bill O’Boyle, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 829-7218.