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Downtown Wilkes-Barre pursuit ends with arrest of Kingston woman

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Wolf re-elected Pennsylvania governor

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Voters Tuesday returned Democrat State Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski to Harrisburg for a seventh 2-year term to represent the 121st Legislative District.</p><p>Pashinski, 73, of Wilkes-Barre faced a tough challenge from Republican Sue Henry, 53, of Hanover Township. She conceded shortly before 10 p.m. in a phone call to him at Rodano&#8217;s in Wilkes-Barre where he and hundreds of supporters gathered in expectation of a victory.</p><p>Unofficial results as of 10:33 p.m. had Pashinski winning with 9,338 votes to 6,944 for Henry for the seat that pays $87,180 a year and represents the municipalities of Wilkes-Barre, Ashley, Laurel Run, Wilkes-Barre Township, Fairview Township and parts of Hanover Township.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m honestly overjoyed,&#8221; Pashinski said. He thanked the voters whom he said turned out in high numbers for the election that coincided with other state and federal races.</p><p>&#8220;Let me compliment the people. Your vote, ladies and gentlemen, is the power,&#8221; Pashinski said, adding it will keep politicians &#8220;honest.&#8221;</p><p>The other Democratic victories on the state and federal levels boded well for his efforts on issues that need attention, Pashinski said.</p><p>&#8220;I have a rapport with them. We have talked about health care. We have talked about opioids. We have talked about those issues that are bread and butter,&#8221; Pashinski said.</p><p>During her concession speech at 6 Strings Saloon in Hanover Township, Henry spoke highly of Pashinski.</p><p>&#8220;I want to say all throughout this campaign I never once doubted he was a good person and a gracious man,&#8221; Henry said. &#8220;I disagreed on the issues of his campaign, but I wouldn&#8217;t disagree that he was a good guy.</p><p>&#8220;He said that we will work together to make this area better. I am going to take him up on that invitation because we need to continue to work on the things on our area to make it better. It&#8217;s that simple.&#8221;</p><p>Both candidates had name recognition: Pashinski, not only as an incumbent, but also as a retired high school music teacher who still performs locally with the group &#8220;The Starfires,&#8221; and Henry, a former WILK Radio talk show host and adjunct faculty member at King&#8217;s College.</p><p>They met in one public forum held by the League of Women Voters at the Wilkes-Barre Jewish Community Center that highlighted their differences on the issues. The elimination of school property taxes took center stage in their race with the candidates staking their claims in competing legislation aimed at relieving the burden on homeowners while adequately funding public education.</p><p>Henry favored House Bill 76/Senate Bill 76 that proposes increasing the state&#8217;s sales and income taxes as well expanding the list of goods and services to be taxed in order to make up the revenue from property taxes.</p><p>Pashinski, on the other hand, voted for House Bill 504 that he said would have reduced property taxes up to $950 for all Luzerne County homeowners. He was a co-sponsor on a plan by Gov. Tom Wolf to reduce taxes by up to $1,000 for property owners and eliminate property taxes for up to one-third of the state&#8217;s seniors.</p><p>&#8220;One of the first things I&#8217;m going to do is I&#8217;m going to bring our coalition together, our Northeastern PA guys together,&#8221; Pashinski said. &#8220;And I want to begin now the rediscussion of House Bill 504 which was a moderation of the taxes to reduce the property tax substantially.&#8221;</p><p>Pashinski raised the imposition of a severance tax on the natural gas extracted from the Marcellus Shale as a source of revenue.</p><p>&#8220;I want to be fair to the business too,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I want to be fair to the Marcellus industry. We can come to an agreement that&#8217;s fair for them so they can still make a profit.&#8221;</p><p>In his six previous campaigns for the House seat Pashinski was unopposed in 2008 and 2012. He faced Libertarian candidate Betsy Summers twice in 2014 and 2016. His other opponents were Christine Katsock in 2006 and James O&#8217;Meara Sr. in 2010.</p><p>This was Henry&#8217;s first run for state office. She was not a candidate in the May primary and instead accepted the Republican nomination from Gregory Wolovich Jr. He bowed out of the race and with the approval of the county Republican party Henry took on the candidacy.</p><p>Despite her loss, Henry said she still wants to help members of the community.</p><p>&#8220;I enjoyed it. I loved meeting and talking with people about what&#8217;s important to them. I want to help people in the future. I don&#8217;t know what that will be but I certainly want to help people.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Blue lights were passed out to supporters of Eddie Day Pashinski on Tuesday night. Republican candidate for the 121st district, Sue Henry, thanked all of the volunteers and campaign management that aided in her campaign in her concession speech to Democratic incumbent Eddie Day Pashinski Tuesday night. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_Sue-Henry-121st-district-4.jpg</photo0><caption0>Blue lights were passed out to supporters of Eddie Day Pashinski on Tuesday night. Republican candidate for the 121st district, Sue Henry, thanked all of the volunteers and campaign management that aided in her campaign in her concession speech to Democratic incumbent Eddie Day Pashinski Tuesday night. </caption0><photoCredit0>Tony Callaio | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_eddie_day2_faa-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">State Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski give his victory speech at Rodano&#8217;s on Public Square in Wilkes-Barre after defeating Sue Henry in the race for the 121st Legislative District on Tuesday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_eddie_day2_faa-2.jpg</photo1><caption1>State Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski give his victory speech at Rodano&#8217;s on Public Square in Wilkes-Barre after defeating Sue Henry in the race for the 121st Legislative District on Tuesday. </caption1><photoCredit1>Fred Adams | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jerry Lynott and Dan Stokes</p><p>jlynott@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jerry Lynott at 570-991-6120 or on Twitter @TLJerryLynott.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Pashinski defeats challenger Henry