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By Sheena Delazio sdelazio@timesleader.com
Staff Writer
Sheena Delazio on Facebook   |   @TLSheenaDelazio on Twitter

WILKES-BARRE – Former prothonotary Carolee Medico Olenginski Tuesday won a chance to compete for the row office she lost in 2002. The Mountain Top resident and Republican will face Democrat Nancy McGinley Bellas for the county office that has been plagued by scandal and without a leader since March.

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Bellas

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Medico Olenginski

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Unofficial results from Tuesday’s primaries indicate McGinley Bellas won her party’s nomination with 14,802 votes, while Medico Olenginski received 10,901 votes for the GOP nod.

“I was hoping to win,” Medico Olenginski said. “It seemed like the people out there had remembered me. The grassroots people were unbelievable. I’m very appreciative. It’s very humbling and I’m very proud.”

Medico Olenginski, 65, was previously elected prothonotary, the county’s keeper of civil records, in 1998 and held the position until she was unseated by Jill Moran in 2002.

Moran resigned from the position in March as part of an agreement with federal prosecutors. In addition to resigning, the stipulation required her to provide complete and full cooperation in the investigation into alleged corruption at the county courthouse.

McGinley Bellas, 56, of Kingston, based her campaign on what she calls the three A’s: Accessibility, accountability and adaptability.

“I’m so grateful for this whole experience. I decided to run this race at the end of January, and I’m so grateful to family and friends who have been so supportive, and I’m so grateful to the people of Luzerne County for putting their trust in me,” said McGinley Bellas while celebrating Tuesday night with family at her home. “It’s going to be a tough race, but I hope I can reach more people and be as successful as I am tonight.”

Both Medico Olenginski and McGinley Bellas have pledged to restore integrity and honesty to the prothonotary’s office, and to upgrade it with an online system on which citizens can access all civil records.

Medico Olenginski said she doesn’t think she won only because she knows how to run the office. “It’s not only knowing what I’m doing, but having the courage to stand up (to the) wrongdoing,” she said, citing the ongoing corruption probe in Luzerne County.

Democratic candidates Alfred Akulonis Jr. and Gerald Mullery and Republican hopeful Walter Mitchell came in with 6,864, 8,532 and 7,957 unofficial votes, respectively.

Democrats tallied 638 write-in votes, while Republicans received 123 write-in votes.

Akulonis, Duryea council president; Mullery, an attorney handling worker compensation, personal injury and insurance claims, and Mitchell, Bear Creek mayor, had stated if elected, they would be in the office full-time and answer to the people of Luzerne County.

Mullery, 38, a graduate of King’s College and Duquesne University, said he’s qualified for the job because of his extensive experience in working with 25 other county prothonotary offices during his 11 years as an attorney.

Mullery, had previously run for the position in 2001, and was beaten by Moran.

Mitchell, 65, is the owner/operator of Mitchell Financial Group in Wilkes-Barre and has previously said he decided to run for office to stop the “culture of corruption in Luzerne County government by bringing honor, integrity and transparency to the office.”

Like the four other candidates, Akulonis, 47, said part of the reason he decided to run for office was because of the ongoing scandals in Luzerne County.

Akulonis promised to commit himself to the job 100 percent, and felt he was qualified because of his experience with Duryea council and because he has a degree in criminal justice.