Luzerne County Council members react to Tuesday’s Democratic sweep

Incoming Luzerne County Council member Chris Belles said Wednesday he is seeing online postings and “fearmongering” wrongly characterizing his winning team of four Democratic council winners as “left wing lunatics.”

“I don’t want the people of Luzerne County to ever think that’s a remote possibility. We are your neighbors, and we are going to take care of the county’s business in our positions every single day,” said Belles.

County voters picked four Democrats and one Republican for county council in Tuesday’s general election, switching the 11-member legislative body to a Democratic majority, according to unofficial election results. In addition to Belles, Democrats Denise Williams, Steven M. Coslett and Dawn Simmons were elected. Council Chairman John Lombardo was the lone Republican to be elected Tuesday.

Belles said the newly elected Democrats are not “fringe politicians” or “well-connected people.”

“There is no need to be fearful just because the Democrats won. We are very mindful of the fact that this is a county that has a lot of different political outlooks and a lot of different opinions,” Belles said.

Lombardo, who will be one of three Republicans on council when the body reorganizes at the start of 2026, said Wednesday he is grateful for his re-election but wary of what to expect when the composition changes.

“I try to be optimistic about the people elected to County Council, but every interaction I had with them and everything I know about them and all the outside dark money poured into this race leads me to believe they will be pushing ideological issues rather than solutions that will actually help the residents of Luzerne County,” Lombardo asserted.

He largely blames the election outcome on mailers and other campaign messaging put out by the Washington, D.C.-based State + Local Election Alliance that described Lombardo and his teammates — Jackie Scarcella and incumbent Council members Brian Thornton and Greg Wolovich — as a “crew of extremists.”

“We have been working together with officials from both parties and trying to do things that will help everybody, and to label us as extremists in any way, shape, or form is just a bold-faced lie,” Lombardo said.

Belles said he and his fellow Democratic council teammates did not seek negative campaign advertising and “were very unhappy with the negativity that came from the outside.” The State + Local mailers said they were not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.

In addition to the negative ads, Lombardo cited “dysfunction of the Republican Party” as a major factor in the election outcome.

“We have agitators who have zero record of success trying to influence the results of elections,” Lombardo said, adding he tried to work with these individuals but will no longer “waste any time and energy dealing with them.”

Lombardo said he has proven he can work with others, regardless of party affiliation.

“I don’t want things to fail. I want us to be successful,” he said.

Belles said he “graciously looks forward” to working with Lombardo and all current and new council members, “regardless of party or politics.” During a pre-election campaign forum, Belles had said he wants the “correct answers” to solve county problems and is “not really concerned with whether my party is OK with it or not.”

He believes four Democrats prevailed Tuesday because they had the “hardest working team” and had voters who “believed in us.”

Two other well-known county general election winners — Democrats Tim McGinley for controller and Mark Bufalino for county Court of Common Pleas judge — were also at the “tip of the spear,” Belles said.

Councilman Jimmy Sabatino, who has two years remaining in his term, said Wednesday he and his seated Democratic colleagues have demonstrated they “always have the county taxpayers in mind and are not looking to bring national politics into county government.”

“I can’t speak for everybody on County Council, but as far as I’m concerned, I’ve proven over the last few years that I keep an open mind and try to work with everybody involved in a decision,” Sabatino said.

Sabatino congratulated all five council winners, Bufalino and McGinley. McGinley served three elected council terms totaling 12 years, from the 2012 start of home rule until the end of 2023.

“I’m extremely excited to have Tim as controller to help mentor some of us newer people on county council through some tough decisions,” Sabatino said. “His insight and advice will always be welcomed.”