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Just what was going through state Sen. John Yudichak’s mind as he mulled switching registration from Democrat to Independent?

We know what he told us and other media outlets on Tuesday.

Yudichak said it was a difficult decision, and that he sought the counsel of his father, Joseph Yudichak, Sr.

He said he was tired of the toxicity in politics today at all levels, and he is “trying to change the conversation.” He said he wants to see leaders put the best interests of the people ahead of purists and party ideology.

“Yudichak said he didn’t have an epiphany, nor a single moment where he just decide to make the change. He said it has been on his mind and he finally made the move,” reporter Bill O’Boyle wrote.

But the obvious and formally unanswered question: Did the Wolf administration’s ham-handed handling of the White Haven State Center and SCI-Retreat closure process push Yudichak over the edge?

The closest Yudichak came to that subject in our story was as follows: “He said the current battles to keep the White Haven State Center and SCI-Retreat open, preserving hundreds of jobs, is being fought by all elected officials without concern for party philosophies,” O’Boyle wrote.

Maybe Yudichak is being diplomatic, or cautious — perhaps both — about the role that fight played in his personal decision, given that discussion on the two facilities’ future continues in Harrisburg.

Reading between the lines, we feel Yudichak’s signal to Gov. Tom Wolf and the state’s Democratic establishment was unmistakable: He was fed up, he was insulted on behalf of his constituents, and he wasn’t going to take it anymore.

Members of our staff, including O’Boyle and News Editor Roger DuPuis, who have been covering the White Haven and Retreat issues, have heard the passion, anger and frustration in Yudichak’s voice. They were there as he read comments into the record at public hearings, as he grilled administration officials in Harrisburg about how much planning went into the decisions, and as he vowed to do everything in his power to prevent the closures — or at least halt them until further research could be done on the effects they would have on local communities.

Plans regarding SCI-Retreat are still formally proposals, while state officials have said White Haven will close within three years.

Our staff listened as Yudichak spoke passionately about the impact those closures would have on employees, recalling how his late mother, Sally Yudichak, worked at the White Haven State Center for many years.

Was he emotional? Absolutely. But as Yudichak has continually pointed out, the separate closures of White Haven and SCI-Retreat could affect 800 workers and result in over $100 million in economic losses to the region.

It was hard not to feel his frustration, and that of supporters, as Wolf Administration officials gave cold, bureaucratic responses and glossed over how they failed to consult the legislature first; or, in the case of Secretary of Corrections John E. Wetzel, responded with clumsy profanity.

Let us never forget the hot-mic remarks Wetzel made at an Oct. 17 public hearing on SCI-Retreat: “This does suck. I wish I didn’t have to close this (expletive). It is what it is … Honestly, we’re just making it look like I’m paying attention.”

There will be a second hearing on SCI-Retreat at 5:30 p.m. today at the Nanticoke Municipal Building, 15 East Ridge St. We expect it will be well attended.

We also expect state Sen. John Yudichak, I-Plymouth Township, will continue to fight for both facilities as he has done, in conjunction with the region’s other state lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.

“As an Independent, I will continue to put people above politics. I will continue to support Democratic ideas as well as Republican ideas when it is clear that they serve the greater good and help government work for people rather than the narrow interests of partisan ‘purists,’” Yudichak said Tuesday.

Yudichak told O’Boyle he plans to fulfill his current term in the senate, which has three years remaining. After that, he said he will weigh all options.

Yudichak could have switched over to the Republicans. He didn’t. He opted for a middle way at a time when American politics increasingly punishes those who seek consensus.

It was a brave move for a man from a working-class Democratic stronghold and time will tell whether it will blunt Yudichak’s effectiveness in Harrisburg.

Then again, we saw in 2016 and continue to see how the Democratic party is struggling to maintain its hold on Luzerne County voters whose families stood fast for generations.

We ask only this of Yudichak: Finish your term, and do your best to put constituents first, as promised.

— Times Leader

State Sen. John Yudichak discusses the decision to keep SCI-Retreat open in 2017. The prison is now facing closure again. Yudichak on Tuesday announced he would switch from Democrat to Independent.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/web1_TTL012717Prison-close2-1.jpg.optimal.jpgState Sen. John Yudichak discusses the decision to keep SCI-Retreat open in 2017. The prison is now facing closure again. Yudichak on Tuesday announced he would switch from Democrat to Independent. Times Leader file