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November 10

‘Perfect storm’ led to upset for the ages, expert says

Juvenile scandal, aggressive media strategy and money lift Salavantis over Musto Carroll.

By Terrie Morgan-Besecker tmorgan@timesleader.com
Law & Order Reporter
Terrie Morgan-Besecker on Facebook   |   @TLTerrieMorgan on Twitter

It will go down as one of the biggest election upsets in Luzerne County history.

A young Republican attorney with no prosecutorial experience took on an incumbent Democrat for district attorney in a county where Democrats make up 58 percent of registered voters.

In normal times, incumbent Jacqueline Musto Carroll would have likely breezed to victory over her challenger, Stefanie Salavantis, political analysts said.

But this election and these times were anything but normal.

Salavantis used the backlash that continues to reverberate from the juvenile justice scandal, coupled with a hard-hitting media campaign to defeat Musto Carroll in her bid for a second term, according to unofficial results in Tuesday’s general election.

‘Perfect storm’

The recent sentencings of former judge Michael Conahan and attorney Robert Powell, two key figures in the juvenile scandal, and the arrest of Musto Carroll’s uncle, former state Sen. Raphael Musto, on corruption charges, created a “perfect storm” for Salavantis to prevail, said political analyst David Sosar, a political science professor at King’s College.

“This has to be one of the more amazing upsets” in county history, Sosar said. “To see such a newcomer with two years experience as a lawyer take on an incumbent, especially as a Republican in a Democratic majority county, things like this don’t normally happen.”

If the unofficial results hold up, Salavantis would become the first Republican to hold office since Correale Stevens, who served from 1988 to 1991.

“This was a huge victory for us,” said Terry Casey, chairman of the Luzerne County Republican Committee. “This was an important election for the county to put the past behind us and move forward. I think voters agreed that Stefanie was a fresh start.”

The well-funded Salavantis ran numerous television, radio and print ads that attacked Musto Carroll for failing to do more to protect the rights of juveniles who appeared before former Judge Mark Ciavarella, who was charged along with Conahan and Powell.

Sosar said the impact of those ads was compounded by the close proximity of Conahan’s sentencing, which occurred in August, and Powell’s sentencing, which happened last week, to the election.

“There was a ripple effect with Bob Powell. It kept the thing fresh in everyone’s mind,” he said.

Local media consultant Ed Mitchell, who ran Musto Carroll’s campaign, agreed the Powell and Conahan sentencings likely negatively impacted her.

“It definitely colored the tenor of the election in the final weeks,” Mitchell said.

Spending factors in

Mitchell said he believes the key issue, however, was Musto Carroll’s lack of funding to counter Salavantis’ media blitz. Salavantis spent $184,249 on her campaign compared to $70,310 spent by Musto-Carroll, according to the latest campaign finance reports filed on Oct. 28.

“She came up against a self-funded candidate who seemed to have a bottomless pit to throw everything at her but the kitchen sink,” Mitchell said. “Unfortunately for Jackie, she just didn’t have the resources to respond.”

Tom Baldino, a political science professor at Wilkes University, agreed money was a significant factor.

“We had a classic example of how money can take an unknown candidate and make that candidate viable,” Baldino said.

Salavantis was unknown until she launched a last-minute write-in campaign in the May primary.

“She came from nowhere in the political universe and got her name in on a write-in ballot. With the financial support she had, she was able to establish significant name recognition,” Baldino said. “Money can buy name recognition if you have enough of it.”

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