Bognet claims GOP primary win; Daniels wants ‘every vote counted’

HAZLETON — With ballot counting still underway in Luzerne County on Wednesday afternoon, Jim Bognet declared victory in the six-way Republican race for the 8th District congressional nomination.

Four of his competitors — Mike Cammisa, Earl Granville, Harry Haas and Mike Marsicano — conceded the race in posts to their campaign Facebook pages.

Apparent runner-up Teddy Daniels was having none of it.

“Thousands of absentee ballots in Lackawanna and Monroe counties, as well as thousands of provisional ballots where people should have been able to vote but never received their absentee ballot, have yet to be counted,” Daniels wrote in a fiery post on his campaign Facebook page.

“I concede nothing. I want to see every vote counted,” Daniels added.

The race was made up of Bognet, Daniels, Granville, Marsicano, Haas and Cammisa seeking the GOP nod to challenge Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-Moosic, in November.

The 8th District encompasses all of Wayne, Pike, and Lackawanna counties, as well as significant portions of Luzerne and Monroe counties.

Bognet’s declaration

A release from Bognet’s press office said the declaration came following the Associated Press’ 4:18 p.m. call of the race.

The latest numbers released by the AP, shortly before 6 p.m., listed unofficial districtwide totals only for four of the candidates, as follows:

Bognet — 13,632

Daniels — 12,279

Haas — 4,203

Cammisa — 1,038.

Those totals were released by the AP as Luzerne County’s tally of nearly 40,000 mail-in ballots was just over halfway done.

According to the Luzerne County elections website early Thursday, Bognet was leading in Luzerne County’s 157 precincts with 7,052 votes, or 38% of the total. Daniels was second with 4,469 votes (24.08%), while Marsicano (2,751/14.82%) and Haas (2,707/14.59%) were a close fourth and fifth, respectively. Granville (958/5.16%) and Cammisa (527/2.84%) rounded out the race, which also included 98 write-in votes.

But again, thousands of mail-in ballots had yet to be counted, a process set to resume today.

It was not immediately clear early Thursday how many Republican votes were outstanding in Luzerne County or the other counties comprising the 8th District.

Concession messages

The AP’s headline for its Wednesday evening wrap-up of the state’s key primary races declared: “Pennsylvania counts ballots after a light-on-drama primary.”

Right about the ballots, wrong about the drama, as several of the 8th District candidates’ statements clearly revealed.

• Cammisa wrote on his campaign Facebook page: “I’d like to extend a well-deserved congratulations to my friend Jim Bognet on his victory. There’s no denying this was a contentious race. Now, more than ever, we need to come together so that we can beat Matt Cartwright in November. My family has known Jim’s family for quite some time. I’m confident Jim will serve with honor as our Congressman.”

• Granville on Wednesday wrote in a media statement: “As the mail-in ballots are counted, it appears we will come up short in our attempt to take back PA’s 8th Congressional District. I am thrilled to have won Wayne County and especially my home county of Lackawanna by such a large margin.”

“I would like to congratulate all the primary candidates on hard fought races and, of course, a particular word of congratulations to the apparent winner, Jim Bognet,” Granville added. “Good luck as you go forward.”

• Haas, much earlier on Wednesday, wrote on his campaign Facebook page: “Unofficial results show us way down in the totals, so I will definitely not be the Republican nominee.”

“That being said, I want to thank all of my supporters and all of those who voted for me in the election yesterday. It’s never fun to lose a race, but I still feel like Lou Gehrig: the luckiest man on the face of the earth,” Haas added.

• Marsicano, on his campaign Facebook page, wrote: “While we were not victorious, I am satisfied with my effort: I did it MY way.”

He was less than complimentary of Bognet, however.

“I know I stand by at least one other candidate when I say that I will not be endorsing, nor supporting, the Republican nominee because he is no conservative,” Marsicano wrote.

“I understand that my decision may cause backlash, however I am not one to compromise my principles. Jim Bognet does not represent the values of this district, or the great people that call it home. He ran a campaign of smears and lies.”

Daniels’ statement

Daniels let loose on Bognet in his Facebook post, in which he referred to Bognet as a “swamper” who “flew into this district with his dark money Super PAC and bought the election plain and simple.”

“This arrogant ass already declared victory without waiting for your votes to be counted,” Daniels added.

But he also acknowledged an imbalance between in-person and mail-in votes for his campaign.

“From our estimates, we won the election day vote and lost the mail-in vote,” Daniels wrote. “I do not support mail-in voting simple because it is easy for swamp politicians to buy elections.

Bognet’s statement

In his victory statement, Bognet spoke of being “the grandson of an Italian immigrant coal miner from Hazleton,” calling his apparent victory “the American Dream come to life.”

Bognet offered only positive words for his rival candidates and called on Republicans to join forces and “send Matt Cartwright packing in November.”

“I want to congratulate all the other Republican candidates in the race for running spirited campaigns – all of them care deeply about NEPA and their communities, and all of them stepped forward to serve,” he wrote. “To those voters who supported one of the other GOP candidates, let us join arms and work together to change America and save NEPA.”

Surrogates weigh in

While Daniels waits for the count, surrogates on Wednesday evening seemed clearly focused on the anticipated battle between Bognet and Cartwright in November.

National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Tom Emmer offered Bognet his congratulations, taking aim at the incumbent as well as his relationship with Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

“Matt Cartwright has spent his time in Congress lining his pockets and voting with Nancy Pelosi 100% of the time. Bognet’s experience serving President Trump stands in stark contrast to Cartwright’s record of serving himself and I look forward to helping Jim flip this seat,” Emmer said.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, meanwhile, issued a statement from Chairwoman Cheri Bustos distributed in an e-mail entitled “The Case Against Jim Bognet,” filled with quotes and links to stories alleging that the Hazleton native “could be attacked as a carpetbagger after spending much of his career outside of the district.”

“Representative Matt Cartwright has a record of delivering for his constituents in the 8th District on the issues that matter to them — from access to affordable health care to fighting for Pennsylvania’s seniors,” Bustos said.

“While Rep. Cartwright has shown he’s a proven advocate for northeastern Pennsylvania, Jim Bognet has made it clear that his priority – and his loyalty – is with a political party in Washington. Voters won’t stand for that in November,” she added.

It’s a fight Bognet seemed ready to embrace Wednesday.

“We will build a coalition of voters that understands what it means to dig a ditch, clean a house, or lay a brick to earn their daily bread, as opposed to doing what trial lawyers and socialist allies like Matt Cartwright do, which is to take money from small business owners and their workers to fund their leftist priorities,” Bognet said. “Together, we will turbocharge NEPA’s economy, reignite a blue-collar boom, and restore law and order to Pennsylvania and America.”