A candidate in the hotly contested Republican primary for the 117th District state House seat in Luzerne County declared victory over state Rep. Mike Cabell, even as his appeal is pending before the state Supreme Court.
Jamie Walsh has a five-vote lead over incumbent Cabell, according to unofficial election results in Luzerne County. That’s despite the Court of Common Pleas denying Walsh’s appeal on July 3 to invalidate six absentee ballots cast in the April 23 primary.
On July 2, Cabell also lost an appeal in Commonwealth Court seeking an order requiring election officials to count all votes cast for him.
Both candidates have asked the state Supreme Court to hear appeals of unfavorable Commonwealth Court rulings against them.
Because there is no Democratic candidate for the seat, Walsh is the presumptive winner unless the Supreme Court decides to hear one or both appeals and the results change the vote.
Cabell was elected in 2022 after entering politics during an unsuccessful 2015 campaign for Luzerne County commissioner. He describes himself as an entrepreneur who founded and later sold a successful mental health company. As a legislator, Cabell has been an advocate for voter ID, property tax relief and parental choice in education.
Walsh is the co-founder and president of Citizens Advisory of Pennsylvania, which his campaign website describes as an organization that helps parents fight for their rights and solve problems in school districts across the state. In addition to school choice, Walsh has said that free speech, gun rights, property tax reform, election integrity and support for tiny businesses are among his priorities if elected.
Walsh declared victory Friday, according to the Wilkes-Barre Times-Leader, after the Luzerne County Board of Elections processed 12 provisional ballots. The counting took place after Walsh’s attorney withdrew objections to stickers on the outer envelopes and other irregularities.
The provisional vote tally added seven votes to the three-vote lead Walsh already had, while Cabell gained five votes. The vote total is 4,735 for Walsh and 4,730 for Cabell, according to unofficial results.
Gregory Teufel, who represented Walsh in challenging the vote, said it was unlikely the pending appeals would lead to any changes in the outcome. If Walsh is successful in his bid to disqualify the six mail-in votes, Cabell would lose four votes and Walsh would lose two.
The Supreme Court has discretion to decide whether it will hear the case, Teufel said.
Teufel said that while the uncounted write-in votes could have been enough to give Cabell the lead, his appeal is “an extremely unlikely final victory.” State election law clearly states that write-in votes for candidates whose names appear on the ballot cannot be counted, Teufel said.
