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LACKAWANNA COUNTY JUDGE

Newly formed seat goes to Dem

Margie Bisignani-Moyle handily beats Frank Castellano for family court bench seat.

RALPH NARDONE Times Leader Correspondent

The race to fill the newly formed family court judge’s seat in Lackawanna County was not close on Tuesday night. The two candidates, Democrat Margie Bisignani-Moyle and Republican Frank Castellano, both brought their extensive legal experience to the ballot.

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Bisignani-Moyle

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Castellano

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The voters in 163 districts in the county weighed in. When the vote results started being tallied, Bisignani-Moyle landed an early 20-point lead and held on to that advantage throughout the count.

Castellano conceded the race at approximately 10:30 p.m.

By 11 p.m., unofficial election results from Lackawanna County showed Bisignani-Moyle with 18,429 votes and Castellano earning 14,488.

Bisignani-Moyle took an opportunity after learning about Castellano’s concession to thank him for what she called a “wonderful campaign experience.”

Moreover, she expressed her appreciation to the people who took the time to go to the polls.

“I want to thank the voters for putting their trust in me,” she said.

“I look forward to serving the constituency and helping the court with the backlog of cases.”

Bisignani-Moyle said earlier in the evening she was hopeful and confident based on her visits to 12 polling locations throughout the county. She was “encouraged” by the positive feedback she received as she greeted voters.

Castellano also took to the street to glad-hand voters on Tuesday.

The new judge seat was created to meet an increasing work load in Lackawanna County courts. Castellano felt most qualified to fill the position because of his experience in family law. He attacked what he called Bisignani-Moyle’s lack of experience, especially with respect to juvenile cases.

However, voters did not agree he was the better of the two candidates.

Bisignani-Moyle claimed from the beginning of her campaign that her experience prosecuting cases in Florida and Pennsylvania would best serve the taxpayers of Lackawanna County. She claimed to have more than 100 jury trials, including cases of armed robbery, child molestation, murder and other violent crimes. That experience gave her the opportunity to fight for victims’ rights, especially women and children.

Castellano emphasized during his campaign that trial experience does not apply to the position, but knowledge of how to work with and serve local families does.

Bisignani-Moyle said in response during a recent interview the job she will fill is more about adding another judge to the Count of Common Pleas, not just to family court. She feels the position will likely change over her tenure because of constantly changing workloads. She believes it could eventually lead into civil cases.