Electoral office of Lucerne district is busy filing applications for primary elections

A steady stream of candidates showed up at the Lucerne County electoral office on Monday filling out paperwork for inclusion in the May 16 primary, including County District Attorney Sam Sangedolse.

Republican Sangedolce previously served as first assistant district attorney and took over oversight of the office in March 2021 when Stephanie Salavantis ran for district judge.

He ran unopposed in the November 2021 election and led the county race for a two-year term.

Sanguedolce is now running for a full four-year term and no Democratic nominee has emerged. He also plans to launch a Democratic nomination campaign aimed at getting both parties to nominate candidates for the November general.

“It is very humiliating to have the support of both sides and not face any opposition,” Sanguedolce said.

While a more detailed nomination announcement is expected, Sanguedolce said he would like to highlight his office’s increased focus on solving cold cases and combating trafficking in the potent synthetic opioid fentanyl.

Looking ahead, Sanguedolce said the district attorney’s office has been lucky enough to receive significant grant funding and is seeking funding from the federal American County Rescue Plan to create a new emergency services unit.

The unit will provide law enforcement with resources normally only available through state or federal police, including teams specializing in accident reconstruction and mobile phone and electronic device data analysis, he said.

The district electoral office publicly releases a growing list of candidates who have applied for the May 16 primary.

Available on the main page of the Elections section of luzernecounty.org, the list will be updated at around 11:30 today.

County operations director Emily Cooke said adding all the names will be delayed because she has to go through a growing package of documents and manually enter names and offices to create an online report.

All candidates should verify the accuracy of their information on the online list to ensure the accuracy of the upcoming primary vote, said County Director of Elections Erin Harvey. Applicants are asked to contact the bureau immediately at 570-825-1715 if they have any problems or corrections.

Today is the last day primary candidates can distribute and submit petitions for nominations.

The Electoral Office, located on the second floor of the Penn Place county building on Pennsylvania Avenue in Wilkes-Barre, opens at 9 am.

Applicants are encouraged to apply as early as possible, officials said, and should be at the bureau by 4:15 pm to be in line for processing before the office closes.

Contact Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or tweet @TLJenLearnAndes.