City council President Smurl withdraws as candidate for reelection
Scranton City Council President Gerald Smurl withdrew as a candidate for reelection, citing an issue with certain signatures on his nomination petitions.
Smurl, an incumbent Democrat, said he withdrew those petitions Monday.
'It came to my attention over the weekend that some of my campaign people got a bit overzealous … and actually got signatures that were not verified,' Smurl said. 'All it means is they didn't actually see the people sign a few of these.'
Smurl described the handful of signatures in question as valid but said he didn't want the mistake to become an issue.
'It's not right,' he said. 'I wouldn't accept it if somebody else did it and don't expect any to accept it because I did it.'
Smurl said he's exploring whether he might still be able to pursue reelection as an independent candidate. But his exit from the Democratic primary field changes the dynamic in an election year where three of council's five seats — those currently held by Smurl, Democratic Councilman Bill King and Democratic Councilman Tom Schuster — are up for grabs.
King is not seeking reelection this year.
Smurl's withdrawal leaves six candidates vying for three Democratic nominations to appear on November's municipal election ballot: Schuster, Virgil Argenta, Patrick Flynn, Frankie Malacaria, Sean McAndrew and Todd Pousley.
Republican Marc Pane is also running for council.
Check back for updates.
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