Sacco seeks to join legal fight over Lackawanna County commissioner vacancy
Sacco, represented by attorney Paul Walker, filed Thursday in Lackawanna County a petition to be allowed to intervene in the case. A judge has not yet ruled on whether to allow Sacco to enter the case.
If allowed to become a party in the pending litigation started by Commissioner Bill Gaughan and the county over the vacancy, Sacco also will file a motion for a 'protective order' against what she sees as Gaughan and the county orchestrating 'false news stories' about her actions as former director of the county Department of Economic Development.
County Commissioner Bill Gaughan rebuts comments made by Commissioner Chris Chermak following the public comment portion of the Lackawanna County commissioners meeting at the Lackawanna County Government Center in Scranton on Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Sacco's petition is the latest development in the now-paused process of replacing former Democratic Commissioner Matt McGloin and the political war it has ignited. Gaughan and the county challenge the Home Rule Charter process that had the Lackawanna County Democratic Committee picking three candidates to forward to county judges, who then would select one of the three.
County Commissioner Matt McGloin speaks during the Lackawanna County Commissioner reorganization meeting at The Government Center in Scranton.
The Gaughan/county challenge claims the charter is trumped by Pennsylvania Rule of Judicial Administration 1908 of 2019, that says the county court — not a political party — shall receive applications from any interested candidates for the position. Following Rule 1908 would effectively remove the Lackawanna County Democratic Committee from the process of filling McGloin's seat for the nearly three years remaining on his unexpired term.
Meanwhile, Republican Commissioner Chris Chermak opposes the county's participation in the litigation and also has filed in court a legal action called a praecipe to remove the county as a party to the case.
Now, Sacco wants in on the litigation, claiming her interests are not adequately addressed by either Gaughan/the county or Chermak because neither of them 'can fully assert her unique stake as the highest-scoring nominee facing personal reputational attacks, necessitating her direct participation' in the case, her petition argues. If allowed to enter the case directly, she would back the Home Rule Charter/county Democratic committee process that made her the top finalist, and also would file a separate motion for a protective order against Gaughan/the county 'from orchestrating false news stories about (her) in the local press.'
Sacco says she is proud of her record and 'unafraid of legitimate scrutiny,' but Gaughan and his 'agents have gone beyond what is reasonably expected, orchestrating a smear campaign' to sink her nomination. Furthermore, documents obtained by journalists were 'routine grant applications' processed by Sacco when she was county economic development director and were 'improperly handed to the press with an accompanying false narrative that the documents somehow evidence unethical conduct or insider dealing' by her, according to her petition.
In response to such claims in Sacco's petition, Lackawanna County Solicitor Don Frederickson issued a statement Friday saying: 'To the extent that Lackawanna County is being accused of 'leaking' information to the press, this accusation is completely false and not based in reality. Any information which the county has provided to the press is public information which any citizen and taxpayer is entitled to receive. At no time was any confidential or privileged information relating to any employee or former employee disseminated by the county government.'
Court scheduling for filing of briefs and hearing arguments will extend the case to April 22. If she is not allowed to intervene, 'this case will be alive in the press for three more weeks,' during which her reputation and character could be further impugned by reporting about her county-employment actions and current job working for the State Workers Insurance Fund, according to her petition.
Sacco's petition also claims:
• The Gaughan/county petition for Rule 1908 is 'frivolous' and affects her 'legally enforceable interest … to pursue the appointment that she rightfully and humbly seeks;' and it's 'a pretext to delay' her appointment in order to 'conduct a negative public relations campaign against (her).'
• The Home Rule Charter process has been followed many times over the years, including most recently regarding Edward Staback filling a Democratic vacancy and Bruce Smallacombe filling a Republican vacancy.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Insider
2 minutes ago
- Business Insider
Why congressional stock-trade ban efforts are about to heat up
Get ready to hear a lot more about banning congressional stock trading. A top Trump administration official says he's going to start pushing for a ban. Two House Republicans are, in different ways, gearing up to force a vote on the issue. And all the while, lawmakers keep failing to report millions of dollars' worth of stock trades on time. "We've got to move," Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas said on Fox Business earlier this month, saying that while he had given House GOP leadership "grace" as they worked to get the "Big Beautiful Bill" through Congress, that time is now over. "I'm going to demand that we vote on this, this fall." It all comes after an explosive Senate hearing on a stock trading bill last month, where Republicans went after one another over whether President Donald Trump himself should be banned from trading stocks. That led to Trump branding Sen. Josh Hawley as "second-tier," though the Missouri Republican later told BI that he was able to smooth things over with Trump later. "He told me he wants a stock trading ban," Hawley said in July. "He remains committed to getting a stock trading ban, so we'll work with him to do that." Potential House drama over a 'discharge petition' Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, a Florida Republican known for challenging her own party's leadership, has said she'll start the process of forcing a vote on a stock trading ban when lawmakers return from the August recess. "I won't sit idly by while members of Congress trade stocks, especially those on committees with direct influence over relevant industries," Luna wrote on X last month. "That's corruption at its core, and it needs to stop." Luna has said she'll try to use what's known as a "discharge petition" to bring up a stock trading ban bill authored by Republican Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee. Under that process, the bill would have to be brought to the House floor for a vote — with or without the support of House leaders — if Luna is able to collect signatures from 218 members, a majority of the 435 seats in the House. Not everyone who supports a stock trading ban is on board with Luna's approach. Roy, the co-sponsor of a different stock trading ban bill that has bipartisan support and has been around for years, told Fox Business that a discharge petition is "not the best way" to get it done. "I want the speaker, and Republicans, to control this," said Roy. "Republicans need to control the floor, do our job, bring this to a vote." Roy has been working with a bipartisan group that includes Democratic Reps. Seth Magaziner of Rhode Island and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York to put forward a consensus stock trading ban bill. But after months of discussions, they have yet to release legislative text. That's led Luna to largely dismiss their effort. "Allegedly, there were 'talks' happening? With who?" Luna wrote on X on Thursday. "They were never going to bring a VOTE to the floor. I don't care if this upsets people." The Florida congresswoman's effort is worth taking seriously: she has used this legislative tool before to bring up a bill on proxy voting over the objections of Speaker Mike Johnson, bringing the House to a halt for a full week in April. Lawmakers keep reporting trades late Johnson has said he's supportive of a stock trading ban — though he has "sympathy" for arguments against it. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries began forcefully supporting it this year in the wake of well-timed tariff trades by some lawmakers. Even Trump has backed it, though some Republicans are wary of applying the bill's restrictions to him. This week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent got in on the action, saying he himself would begin pushing for a ban on lawmakers trading individual stocks. "I don't think we have the perfect bill yet," Bessent told Bloomberg this week. "But I am going to start pushing for a single-stock trading ban." Meanwhile, several lawmakers in have been found in violation of the STOCK Act in recent weeks, disclosing millions of dollars worth of trades long after the 30-45 day deadline for doing so. Rep. Lisa McClain of Michigan, the fourth-highest ranking House Republican, was late to disclose over 500 trades made by her husband from March 2024 through June 2025, totalling at least $1.5 million. Republican Rep. Dan Meuser of Pennsylvania failed to disclose that his wife sold between $750,000 and $1.5 million in NVIDIA stock last year. And Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma was late in disclosing millions of dollars made by him and his wife since 2023. Lawmakers are only required to disclose asset ranges on their reports, so we don't know the exact value of the trades. Those lawmakers and their spokespeople blamed errors made by third-party financial managers and lack of awareness of the trades for the late disclosures. A spokesperson for McClain told BI that the congresswoman "promptly filed the necessary paperwork immediately after being made aware of the transactions made in managed accounts and remains committed to transparency and adherence to all House financial disclosure rules and regulations." "I take compliance with all House rules seriously and expect the same from those managing my accounts," Meuser told BI through a spokesperson. "This was a simple, automatic filing that should have occurred without error. The mistake was made solely by my brokerage and benefited me in no way." Mullin's office did not respond to BI's request for comment, but a spokesperson told NOTUS that the senator doesn't trade himself, but relies on a third-party broker.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Redistricting California: Newly proposed congressional maps released
The Brief The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has submitted a proposed map of California's redrawn congressional districts. The move by Newsom, and state Democrats, counters similar efforts underway in Texas. The new maps will likely be decided by California voters in a Nov. 4 special election. LOS ANGELES - A day after Gov. Gavin Newsom announced plans to redraw California's congressional districts, in response to a similar attempt by Republicans in Texas, a proposed map of the new districts was released. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee submitted the following congressional map to the California state legislature for consideration. Key points and differences Below is a breakdown of the key points of the new map from the DCCC. The submitted map is consistent with criteria laid out by the California's Citizen Redistricting Commission. It keeps districts more compact than in the current Commission-drawn map, which helps to keep more communities and neighborhoods together. It splits fewer cities than the current map (57 in submitted map versus 60 in current map). It minimizes changes to the 2020 Commission map to impact as few residents as possible. The submitted map leaves 8 districts untouched and, in 20 districts, fewer than 10% of residents are impacted. Communities of interest are protected, with necessary splits in San Jose, Sacramento, and Los Angeles (all cities that were split by the commission) done so along neighborhood boundaries and/or city council district lines. View the newly proposed congressional maps here View the current congressional maps here What they're saying "We will not stand by as Republicans attempt to rig the election in their favor and choose their voters. It's increasingly clear that Republicans will do anything to protect their narrow majority because they know they can't win on their disastrous legislative record which has raised costs and rips away healthcare for millions, all to give the ultra-wealthy a tax break," DCCC Executive Director Julie Merz said in a statement. The new map will be put forth to voters in a special election, with the California legislature set to take up the issue next week to call a Nov. 4 vote. PREVIOUS COVERAGE:Newsom unveils plan for redistricting California According to Politico, if the redistricting happens, three seats that are currently considered 'safe Republican' would change to 'safe Democratic' and one more would switch to 'lean Democratic'. Those seats currently belong to Republicans Doug Lamalfa, Ken Calvert, Darrell Issa, and Kevin Kiley. Reason for redistricting The backstory The move to redistrict California is a direct response to a Republican-led effort in Texas, pushed by President Donald Trump, as his party seeks to maintain its slim House majority after the midterm election. Texas lawmakers are considering a new map that would help them send five more Republicans to Washington, but Democrats have so far halted a vote by leaving the state to prevent their GOP colleagues from meeting Trump's demands. "We can't stand back and watch this amok or this bankruptcy disappear. We can't stand back and watch this democracy disappear, district by district, all across this country, not just in Texas, but in Missouri, where J.D. Vance went just a week ago in Indiana, in places like Ohio and places like Florida. We need to stand up, not just California. Other blue states need to stand up," Newsom said during a press conference Thursday in Los Angeles. There are 435 seats in the U.S. House and Republicans currently hold a 219-212 majority, with four vacancies. New maps are typically drawn once a decade after the census is conducted. Many states give legislators the power to draw maps but some, like California, rely on an independent commission that is supposed to be nonpartisan. California Democrats already hold 43 of the state's 52 House seats, and the state has some of the most competitive House seats. The Source Information for this story came from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and previous FOX 11 reports.
New York Post
2 hours ago
- New York Post
Schwarzenegger taunts Newsom with message targeting Dem redistricting push
Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is pumping up for a new fight. The longtime Hollywood action star, the last Republican governor in Democrat-dominated California, says he's mobilizing to oppose the push by current Gov. Gavin Newsom to temporarily scrap the state's nonpartisan redistricting commission. 'I'm getting ready for the gerrymandering battle,' Schwarzenegger wrote in a social media post Friday, which included a photo of the former professional bodybuilding champion lifting weights. Schwarzenegger, who rose to worldwide fame as the star of the film 'The Terminator' four decades ago, wore a T-shirt in the photo that said 'terminate gerrymandering.' The social media post by Schwarzenegger comes as Democratic leaders in the Democrat- dominated California legislature are moving forward with new proposed congressional district maps that would create up to five more blue-leaning US House seats in the nation's most populous state. Newsom on Thursday teamed up in Los Angeles with congressional Democrats and legislative leaders in the heavily blue state to unveil their redistricting playbook. 4 Arnold Schwarzenegger wears a 'F*** The Politicians. Terminate Gerrymandering' shirt while working out. Arnold Schwarzenegger/X Newsom and the Democrats are aiming to counter the ongoing effort by President Donald Trump and Republicans to create up to five GOP-friendly congressional districts in red state Texas at the expense of Democrat-controlled seats. 'Today is liberation day in the state of California,' Newsom said. 'Donald Trump, you have poked the bear, and we will punch back.' Newsom vowed to 'meet fire with fire' with his push for a rare — but not unheard of — mid-decade redistricting. 4 California Gov. Gavin Newsom embraces former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger at a news conference in Los Angeles, Calif. on March 22, 2024. Los Angeles Times via Getty Imag The Republican push in Texas, which comes at Trump's urging, is part of a broader effort by the GOP across the country to pad its razor-thin House majority to keep control of the chamber in the 2026 midterms, when the party in power traditionally faces political headwinds and loses seats. Trump and his political team are aiming to prevent what happened during his first term in the White House, when Democrats stormed back to grab the House majority in the 2018 midterms. While the Republican push in Texas to upend the current congressional maps doesn't face constitutional constraints, Newsom's path in California is much more complicated. The governor is pushing to hold a special election this year to get voter approval to undo the constitutional amendments that created the nonpartisan redistricting commission. A two-thirds majority vote in the Democrat-dominated California legislature as early as next week would be needed to hold the referendum. Democratic Party leaders are confident they'll have the votes to push the constitutional amendment and the new proposed congressional maps through the legislature. 'Here we are in open and plain sight before one vote is cast in the 2026 midterm election, and here [Trump] is once again trying to rig the system,' Newsom charged. Newsom said his plan is 'not complicated. We're doing this in reaction to a president of the United States that called a sitting governor in the state of Texas and said, 'Find me five seats.' We're doing it in reaction to that act.' 4 The proposed Congressional district map of California. California State Assembly The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) said 'Newsom's made it clear: he'll shred California's Constitution and trample over democracy — running a cynical, self-serving playbook where Californians are an afterthought, and power is the only priority.' But Newsom defended his actions, saying 'we're working through a very transparent, temporary and public process. We're putting the maps on the ballot and putting the power to the people.' Thursday's appearance by Newsom, considered a likely contender for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination, also served as a fundraising kickoff to raise massive amounts of campaign cash needed to sell the redistricting push statewide in California. The nonpartisan redistricting commission, created over 15 years ago, remains popular among most Californians, according to public opinion polling. That's why Newsom and California Democratic lawmakers are promising not to scrap the commission entirely, but rather replace it temporarily by the legislature for the next three election cycles. 'We will affirm our commitment to the state independent redistricting after the 2030 census, but we are asking the voters for their consent to do midterm redistricting,' Newsom said. Their efforts are opposed by a number of people supportive of the nonpartisan commission. 4 Calif. Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a rally about redistricting at the Democracy Center, Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles on Aug. 14, 2025. Getty Images Among the most visible members is likely to be Schwarzenegger. 'He calls gerrymandering evil, and he means that. He thinks it's truly evil for politicians to take power from people,' Schwarzenegger spokesperson Daniel Ketchell told Politico earlier this month. 'He's opposed to what Texas is doing, and he's opposed to the idea that California would race to the bottom to do the same thing.' Schwarzenegger, during his tenure as governor, had a starring role in the passage of constitutional amendments in California in 2008 and 2010 that took the power to draw state legislative and congressional districts away from politicians and placed it in the hands of an independent commission. 'Most people don't really think about an independent commission much, one way or another. And that's both an opportunity and a challenge for Newsom,' Jack Pitney, an American politics professor at California's Claremont McKenna College, told Fox News. 'It's going to take a lot of effort and money to energize Democrats and motivate them to show up at the polls,' Pitney said, adding Newsom's effort 'is all about motivating people who don't like Trump.' Fox News' Lee Ross contributed to this report
