Elections grab political spotlight
The results of elections and political activity in 2021 will continue to unfold.
U.S. Senate candidate Sean Parnell suspended his campaign after losing custody of his children following a trial in Butler County Common Pleas Court.“There is nothing more important to me than my children, and while I plan to ask the court to reconsider, I can't continue with a Senate campaign,” Parnell said in a written statement. “My focus right now is 100% on my children, and I want them to know I do not have any other priorities and will never stop fighting for them.”Laurie Snell, Parnell's estranged wife, was granted sole custody of the couple's three children, according to the ruling by Senior Common Pleas Judge James Arner. Arner said stability and continuity of education and care, availability to care for the children and the level of conflict between the parents were the primary factors in the decision.During proceedings, Snell testified that Parnell abused her and the children. Parnell later testified otherwise and claimed he had a good relationship with the children.Parnell, a Republican candidate, was seeking an open U.S. Senate seat being vacated by the retiring Republican Sen. Pat Toomey.
The state Supreme Court invalidated a mandate from Gov. Tom Wolf's administration requiring all students, staff and visitors to wear masks at K-12 schools until Jan. 17 to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.The court agreed with arguments presented by Butler attorney Tom Breth that acting secretary of health Alison Beam imposed the order without going through the state's legal review process. Breth represented several individuals and schools that originally petitioned Commonwealth Court to throw out the mandate. The matter went back and forth with various appeals and filings from the state attorney general and Breth as it moved through the courts since Breth's clients first appealed the mandate in the fall.“I'm thrilled for the parents, students and employees of schools throughout the commonwealth that this illegal order has finally been rescinded,” Breth said.
After Butler County residents overwhelmingly voiced their opinion at Butler County Commissioner meetings, the commissioners said certain aspects of the 2020 election will be reviewed.Fluctuations in the voter roles and vote counts between Election Day and the day the election was certified, remaking of ballots that would not go through the scanners, voters who were listed as inactive because they had not voted in the past two presidential elections, military ballots that are allowed by state law to be counted for one week after election day, reconciling mail-in ballots and other aspects of the election will be studied, said Leslie Osche, commissioners chairwoman.She said she does not believe any discrepancies that may be found would affect the results of the election, but she suspects the final results were incorrect.Since the presidential election when Democrat Joe Biden defeated incumbent Republican Donald Trump to become president, residents have come to commissioners meetings claiming the county voting machines were hacked and called for a forensic audit of the machines and the results.
Joe Kubit, an attorney in Butler, won the election to fill a seat on the Butler County Court of Common Pleas to replace Judge Thomas Doerr, who did not run for a fourth term on the bench.Kubit, who cross-filed in the election, defeated attorney Jennifer Gilliland Vanasdale, who ran as an independent, by a wide margin. He defeated District Attorney Richard Goldinger in the primary.Kubit of Cabot will resign from the law firm of Montgomery, Crissman, Kubit, in which he was a partner, before he is sworn into office Monday.He said he plans to continue serving on Butler County Community College board of trustees. He is the board chairman.Kubit was born in Pittsburgh, but graduated from Knoch High School. He received an associates degree from Butler County Community College, completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Pittsburgh and then attended the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, receiving his law degree in 1990.Additionally, several new magisterial district judges were elected in 2020.Attorney Joe Nash was elected as the magisterial district judge for District 50-3-01, which covers Slippery Rock and the surrounding northwest region of the county. He ran uncontested. Incumbent District Judge William O'Donnell did not seek reelection.Kevin Flaherty, the county's former chief public defender, was elected magisterial district judge for District seat 50-3-04, which covers Cranberry Township and the surrounding southwest region of the county. Incumbent District Judge David Kovach did not seek reelection.Former television reporter Amy Marcinkiewicz, who covered and lives in Butler County, was elected magisterial district judge for District 50-3-06, which covers Evans City and the surrounding southeast region of the county. District Judge Wayne Seibel did not seek reelection.
The City of Butler will have a new mayor.Democrat Bob Dandoy, who was in his first term on City Council, won the election to replace Republican Ben Smith, who did not run for reelection.Dandoy, who has been involved with Butler Downtown, defeated Fred Reese, a former council man who serves as chairman of the of the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Butler, and Tom Donaldson, a former mayor and councilman who ran as an independent.Two new council members were also elected. Republican Donald Shearer and Democrat Larry Christy won seats, replacing Republicans Jeff Smith and Kenny Bonus, who did not seek reelection.
The U.S. House Committee on Ethics plans to continue an investigation into a complaint against U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-16th.In a preliminary report issued in October, the independent, nonpartisan Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) recommended that the committee further review the allegation because of “substantial reason” to believe that an April 29, 2020, stock purchase by his wife was based on confidential information that Kelly learned due to his role in Congress. Kelly disputes the allegation.According to the report, Kelly's wife purchased between $15,001 and $50,000 in stock of Cleveland-Cliffs, the company that owns the AK Steel plant in Butler, on April 29, 2020, the day after Kelly learned the U.S. Department of Commerce planned to initiate a review of imports of electrical steel, the primary product of AK Steel.Kelly's wife sold her stock in January 2021 for a profit, according to the report. She had purchased the stock at $4.70 per share and sold it at $18.11 per share.Tom King, a Butler attorney representing Kelly in the matter, wrote to the Ethics Committee that he “respectfully disagree(s)” with the assertions in the committee's report.“As I told the OCE, 'There has been no indication that Rep. Kelly provided Mrs. Kelly any material non-public information learned through the performance of his official duties prior to her stock purchase or, in fact, that he had any involvement whatsoever in Mrs. Kelly's decision to purchase the stock,'” he wrote. “I am confident after a fair and objective review, you will reach the same conclusion.”
