Now that former State Rep. Craig Dally has drifted off into the clouds as Northampton County's newest judge, his state House seat in the 138th District is up for grabs.Diane Elliott, a former member of Northampton County Council (1994-6) and brownfield development consultant is reportedly the Democrats' top pick. Diane is a graduate of the University of Miami School of Law (1977), and also has a Master's degree in environmental science from the New Jersey Institute of Technology (1995). Most recently, she was employed at Lafayette College.
"She does her homework," is what one of her former colleagues tells me.
Northampton County Republicans were divided over Craig Dally staffer Marcia Hahn, Wind Gap Attorney Nick Sabatine and political newcomer David Green. Under their bylaws, committee members from that district make a recommendation, but the executive committee has the final word.
David Green, who impressed committee members with his understanding of the issues and conservative ideals, won their recommendation over Marcia Hahn in a 14-10 vote on Thursday night. But the executive committee, who under its bylaws may ignore that recommendation, went with Hahn.
Of course, the place exploded. Ron Angle went into one of his trademark tirades and Joe Emrick stormed out of the building. I received telephone calls and emails from upset committee members all morning.
Last night, a member of the executive committee explained why they went with Hahn. First, she has 24 years experience working as a staffer for Craig and Lenny Gruppo, during which she obviously made numerous contacts. Second, the vote recommending Green was by no means overwhelming. Third, although Green is certainly knowledgeable and should be encouraged to run, he has no experience running an actual campaign. Fourth, it makes sense to field a female candidate against a female candidate. Finally, their selection of a candidate in the special election in no way prevents Green from mounting his own campaign in the separate primary that will be conducted simultaneously.
I hate when decisions like this are made in some back room. But in a special election, the parties, and not the people, pick the nominees. There will still be another primary election for the very same seat in which Green and Sabatine can run, but I have a feeling everyone is going to be very confused.
69 comments:
Diane Elliot is an airhead. Always has been. she was a disaster on county Council. She is why the "Democratic Leadersahip" in Northampton County isn't.
God, why even bother with the elction.
"the vote recommending Green was by no means overwhelming."
40% more votes for Green over Hahn, not overwhelming?
Seriously, do the math. These people must be really dumb if they come up with lies like this. Just admit this is a political pay back, and the R's stepping on the voice of the people.
This is exactly how we ended up running Bob Dole and John McCain. "They've been around so they should be our candidates". This is also why we republicans lose so many elections
"Joe Emrick stormed out", thats not a surprise. hes a baby. Doesnt get what he wants, so he takes his ball and goes home.
We dont need someone like him representing us! Go Charles!
ha ha ha. What does her political resume say?
I'm a life-long bureaucrat, with decades og being a part of a broken system. Oh yeah, I have two (count them) x - chromosomes.
ha ha ha!!!!
Who is the bitch slapper?
That comment has nothing to do with this post, Diane Elliott or Marcia Hahn. It is the product of a twisted troll from Allentown named Bill Villa, who spams this blog and has driven just about every LV blog into moderation.
Please do me a favor and ignore him. I will eventually take out the garbage and delete him.
"Seriously, do the math. These people must be really dumb"
The tally is posted, 14 - 10 if there were hundreds of votes, I'd see your point. But in this instance, if just two people changed their minds, you'd have a tie.
Bill Villa? Isn't that the This Old House fellow?
There are some great candidates past and present. Articulate, smart and with common sense.
Sadly Diane is not one of them.
We don't like Diane Elliott's type up here.
Emrick is a loser. His head is bigger than Bernie's ass. Has bad hair too!
From what i hear, Hahn is well liked and respected- a good choice. Sabatine is pathetic, and thank God Joe Cap wasn't considered.....
If history is a guide, Nick Sabatine will find interest in another office in approximately three minutes.
Shame on Northampton Republican Elite for not supporting there committee people. Looks like leadership in the Republican party in Northampton needs to be over thrown as well. Guess what elections are this year.
You can certainly elect new people, but unless you change your by-laws, you have not solved the problem. Under your by-laws, the exec committee makes the pick.
Did your source mention in her explanation that Marcia is also member of the Executive Committee?
Appointing Hahn to the special election allows here to tap into the vast money from the State committees. Look at how much money Robert ("you got table games, instead of tax reform") Mench was flooded with. So with all that money, how can someone challenge a corrupt product in a fair primary?
R committee's are about money, not fair representation.
Obama had the "RIGHT" to pick is own cabinet members, but Reps were telling us he was acting like a tyrant. And who wrote the Reps BY LAWS to allow their actions? Oh they did. Imagine that.
Well turn about is fair play. Contact the GOP and tell them what you're tired of their stuff.
http://www.northamptoncountygop.com
Call them like they call Obama, all the time!!!!
Marcia Hahn has never run a campaign. She is a fine bureaucrat and should remain in that seat. This mess came about because one individual on the executive committee voted for her instead of Green. Had that indivudual voted for Dave Green the election could have been tossed back to the committee people where it belongs. The fact of the matter is that the NCRC does not want open primaries. Given that you have major Democratic liberals like Peg Ferraro on that excutive group it is no wonder that the communities that surround us are controlled by Democrats. The bylaws and the people in the NCRC need to be changed.
As someone who voted on Monday night, why would I vote for someone I have never met, or seen at any event, political or otherwise? Oh wait...he is a friend of Joe Emrick's...therefore he's qualified!?
Clearly the intelligent minds have prevailed with thought given to "the people" who will be served by this seat. Hahn was the grease behind a very tuned engine (dally) He was a great Rep and will be the first to say he could not have been successful without those people in his legislative office such as Hahn. She knows the ins and outs and has been a great resource for many . To have her pick up where Dally left off is only a huge plus. She had THE best mentor.
As for Emrick - that news is very disappointing to me. I was set to back him but this makes me want to investigate further as to whether or not Joe Emrick IS the best choice.
Considering Emrick's behavior - Scagliotta may make more sense even though I am republican. He is a people person , considerate of women, familiar with the issues, and Emrick is coming off as just a plain Bully here. TRue colors?? Time will tell
"Hahn was the grease behind a very tuned engine"
Same things were said about Hillary. Is Hahn going have a campaign slogan like,
"You liked Hillary,
but you'll love Hahn!"
Hilliary WHO??
The NCRC does support open primaries. They do not endorse in primaries, the Democrats handpick their candidates behind closed doors.
The election was held in strict accordance with the by laws. Perhaps the by laws are not good, but changing them just prior to the process would have been unethical.It was a flawed way to have to do things, but there will be an open primary. That vote was for the balott on an unexpired term The primary is the same day and may the best candidate win that primary.
At that point the people in the 138th legislative district who chose to work for that candidate and the candidate will have the full support of the NCRC. If I am correct, the process was open to the public both evenings (not like Joe Long's events) and EVERYONE was allowed to have a say about this process.
If anything is aboslutely true, the process was open, non prejudiced, in accordanc witht he rules, and no matter who had won the other side was going to feel agrieved, and rightly so. The rules were flawed but not the process.
The open primary is what will
really matter in this case.
Dally is a nice guy, who got along with everyone and was good at individual constituent service, but no super legislator.
His website claims he is a champion of tax reform. In Harrisburg speak, that simply means taking less money from one pocket and more from another.
Electing a clone, who "knows the machinations, and how to get things done", will result in little meaningful change.
I'm still learning about all the candidates, but now is the time to send someone with a pitchfork, not a well-populated contact book.
The candidate who pledges to reign in the PSEA, state pensions and benefits, and truly limit the size and scope of government will kick the crap out of anyone, even a real nice lady, annointed by an arrogant executive committee. And I will be knocking on doors for that candidate.
"The rules were flawed but not the process."
Oh you admit there must be rules or the arrogant executive committee will ignore people's choice. Best is using Joe Long as their moral compass. So much for the superior moral attitude Rep's display.
"may the best candidate win that primary." Because you elite Rep's can't over turn that one, right? Will your 'hand picked' candidate refuse all state money(for the special election) to be on equal grounds with other Rep's in the primary? We all know the truth. They gave Marcia Hahn a blank check to squash the other candidates with free GOP money, the same way you did with your GOP by laws.
Democracy was a lone whisper, and you shouted it down with your power.
Where won't littly willy go?
As far as Diane Elliott is concerned, she has proven to be flighty, unprepared and ineffuctual at most of the positions she has held. She would be in over her head in Harrisburg.
Hello everyone. I've installed a new comment feature here, powered by Disqus. I did not intend to blow out all the previously posted comments, and am working on importing them into this new feature.
I have restored and will keep the old comments features until i am able to import all features into Disqus, and then will enable Disqus and this blog.
Anon 12:43 you are of course joking, right? The NCRC supports open primaries! HAHAHA.
Remember when you had a handpicked candidate to run against old liberal tax and spend Stoffa for County Executive.
Right after the primary you forced him out and endorsed Stoffa. Stoffa said thank you by spending all the County reserves and asking for a 9% tax increase. We could have won the Executive seat in 08 with a decent R candidate. Since some of the Country Club R's supported Stoffa in 05 they made him our choice in 09.
You realize he is going to shove a 10% tax increase at the Republican County Council this year.
Stop lying Republican Committee, you are controlled by a few old monied R's.
Bernie is it true to ripped off those clients of millions when you were a lawyer? And these were families, not corporations.
Here is some homework for the NCRC executive committee. Write a hundred times,
"I will not compromise my INTEGRITY regardless of what rules, or by laws, allow me to do."
he he he, like they know what integrity means, so here it is.
Integrity - adherence to moral and ethical principles.
Wow nothing in there about by laws.
anon 5:28....you sound like David Green as he was leaving the meeting. His parting words were: This committee has no integrity.
Wow what a poor sport
Can anyone tell me who put Diane Elliott's name on the balott?
"Wow what a poor sport"
Sport? Cheating isn't appreciated in sports. Why in state house leadership?
"Sport? Cheating isn't appreciated in sports."
Refusing to abide by your own by-laws is what most of us would call cheating.
"Can anyone tell me who put Diane Elliott's name on the balott?"
I'm not quite sure how that happened.
You have by laws developed to intentionally ignore the affected citizens?
Silly Republicans, tricks are for kids.
Why doesn't anyone care how DIane Elliott was selected...Just slam the GOP no matter what they do but never ever questiont he Democrats process...we still need to know how Diane Elliott got ont he ballot!
Another lie by O'Haire about Diane Elliot as a candidate that he can't substanciate. Did you check with the Dems at all or are you pulling names from the air OHair? The Express Times didn't mention her name. Why not?
I have several sources for this assertion. They are all Rs, but hjghly placed Rs. If my information is inaccurate, I will gladly post a correction. But I believe my story is accurate or would not have written it.
Chor-Bishop Seely Beggiani on Being a Priest
Chor-Bishop Seely Beggiani on Being a Priest
Can't spam w. DISQUs, can you, Villa?
The above link to yet another attack on Father Alex shows just Villa as nuts and hateful. I guess giving him a forearm at the courthouse is not enough. He will be unable to continue spammin this blog with his hate now that DISQUS is installed.
I sent a link on a previous thread on this blog site earlier today. Here's another from the same artist, Fares Karam. Let me know which one you like better. This one is my favorite:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvHbXHVMWKw&feature=related
Peace, ~~Alex
Lebanon is so beautiful, Alex.
Lebanon, New Jersey or Pennsylvania?
peace, ~~alex
You only mention one vote, 14-10. What was the second count? Executives?
Anon, Why don't you tell us? You were obviously there. I only heard about it and heard the exec committee had a tie that was broken by Bob Kilbanks.
O'Hare was disbarred for emotionally torturing a black client w/ evil intent.
But this fact probably plays pretty good for the knuckle-dragger crowd here at LVR. Just sayin'.
Posted by Trollvilla, who is unable to spam this blog with DISQUS.
the exec committee had a tie that was broken by Bob Kilbanks.
What a sham! Bob Kilbanks doesn't even live in the 138th and he cast the deciding vote! The committee people who were elected and actually vote in the 138th had their votes tossed. Did Marcia vote for herself?
To all:
Hopefully this isn't too much off topic. And if it is, please feel free to delete this comment.
But I am truly confused.
Isn't it amazing that the comments at 6:10 PM and 6:11 PM, have been showing up on blogs around the Lehigh Valley signed as Anonymous and VJMJ? But at The Troll Parade, they are signed by Mr. Bill Villa.
I am confused. Is someone impersonating or signing posts to Bill Villa? Who are VJMJ and Anonymous?
VJMJ and Anonymous should be ashamed of themselves for stealing Mr. Villa's content. Now I think I may know why Anonymous won't sign his/her name. He or she might be ashamed because they are stealing someone else's content? Maybe?
I need some more time to reflect on this. Maybe later.
Please join me in praying for the fallen, including myself.
Peace, ~~Alex
This is being posted on other blogs?
Hahn Broke the tiew herself. SHe is obviously a resident voter of the 138th and also a committee woman and and area chairman for the executive committee. Kilbanks did NOT break the vote. I love rumors,,never correct.
What was the final vote count?
So she broke the tie? Did the other canidates get to vote?
If you were there, tell us yourself.
I WAS THERE MONDAY AND ON THURSDAY:
The other candidates did not get to vote becasue they were not committee people in the district, nor were they executive committee members, they both had those opportunities open to them but did participate
The final vote Monday nnight was 12 to 16 for David Green.(Committee person vote)
THursday Night 11 to 12 for Hahn
(Executive committee vote)
It is the executive committee who seats the candidate on the ballot by stste law.
If the vote does not follow the County Party by laws, the Department of State will not certify that vote and the Executive Committee cannot seat any candidate.
That is what happened and those are the rules.
Anybody know how Diane Elliott got on the ballot? Still no answer to that question
Let's face it, this stinks to high heaven. The first thought that comes to mind is Bob Dole, and the out-of-touch establishment. The second thought that comes to mind is that the Northampton County Republican Executive Committee still doesn't get it. You are surfing in the political ocean looking for a wave, but can't see the Tsunami coming. Blind guides! You are going to be swept out to sea if you do not yield to the will of the people of the district who clearly told you that Lt. Col. David Green was their candidate. Someone said there was no clear consensus? Did you say that a couple weeks ago when Scott Brown won by slimmer margins in Massachusetts? No, it was a clear win. And what of the two conservatives who voted against their professed beliefs supporting Hahn, and you know who you are. Does the word "Judas" mean anything to you?
Marcia was indeed able to vote. You would tell your candidaate to do the same under the existing rules. Keep in mind, nice guys finish last.
The Republicans could run Jimmy Carter against Diane Elliot and win. This woman is as clueless as they come. Push for many public debates, she is annoying and will do your work for you.
The Republicans could run Jimmy Carter
- could happen, maybe they can re-vote and make it a fun race. They would just excuse their bad decisioning powers by hiding behind their by laws.
1st came - blame the Devil
2nd came - blame bush
now comes - blame by laws
ha ha ha ha ha
As one of the 10 out of 22 that voted for Green, it needs to be understood that the by-laws are not at fault here it was the vote. There was no reason not to listen to the people from the district and put a new fresh face in this seat. We are all worried what the D's will learn from Scott Brown how about what the R's should be learning.
Often said "never underestimate the R's ability to loose a winnable election".
Let's hope this experience has not pushed good candidates like Green away from the party.
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