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A steady stream of candidates appeared at Luzerne County’s election bureau Monday filing paperwork to get on the May 16 primary election ballot, including county District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce.
A Republican, Sanguedolce previously served as first assistant DA and assumed oversight of the office in March 2021, when Stefanie Salavantis was running for county judge.
He ran unopposed in the November 2021 election and was the top vote-getter in countywide races for a two-year term.
Sanguedolce is now running for a full four-year term, and no Democratic contenders have surfaced. He also is planning to launch a Democratic write-in campaign aiming to receive both party nominations for the November general.
“It is very humbling to have support from both parties and not face any opposition,” Sanguedolce said.
While a more detailed candidacy announcement is forthcoming, Sanguedolce said he wanted to highlight his office’s increased focus on solving cold cases and targeting trafficking of the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl.
Looking forward, Sanguedolce said the DA’s office has been fortunate to receive substantial grant funding and is seeking county federal American Rescue Plan funding to form a new emergency services unit.
This unit would provide law enforcement resources that are typically available only through state police or federal entities, including teams specializing in accident reconstruction and cell phone/electronic data analysis, he said.
The county election bureau is publicly posting the growing list of candidates who filed paperwork to appear on the May 16 primary ballot.
Available on the main page of the election section at luzernecounty.org, the list will next be updated around 11:30 a.m. today.
County Operations Director Emily Cook said there will be a lag in getting all names added because she must review the mounting stack of filings and manually enter the names and offices to create the online report.
All candidates should verify their information is correct in the online list to help ensure accuracy of the upcoming primary ballot, county Election Director Eryn Harvey said. Candidates are asked to immediately contact the bureau at 570-825-1715 if they have any issues or corrections.
Today is the last day for primary election candidates to circulate and file nominating petitions.
Located on the second floor of the county’s Penn Place building on Pennsylvania Avenue in Wilkes-Barre, the election bureau opens at 9 a.m.
Candidates are encouraged to file as early as possible and should be in the bureau by 4:15 p.m. to ensure they are in line for processing before the office closes, officials said.
Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.