Dems agree Shimkus made costly mistakes

Published: Thursday, November 06, 2008
Updated: Thursday, November 6, 2008 4:19 AM EST

Propelled on a platform of reform in 2006, voters in the 113th Legislative District gave popular TV news anchor Frank Andrews Shimkus a shot in Harrisburg.

Then, as his opponent Kevin Murphy argued last summer — and members of the Democratic party seem now to agree — the Democratic state representative blew it.

From the $29,700 in per diem expenses racked up in a 15-month period, to losing his ballot spot in the April Democratic primary, local party officials said Mr. Shimkus made mistakes.

“He created the problems himself,” Scranton Mayor Chris Doherty said, speaking about the per-diems issue. “The voters don’t like that ... and Kevin was smart enough to highlight it.”

“People want to be able to trust their elected officials,” county Democratic chairman Harry McGrath said. “(Mr. Shimkus) had a series of events, including the publication of the issue of him not being on the ballot. People looked at that and said we do need some change.”

Democrat Mr. Murphy beat Mr. Shimkus with 52 percent of the vote, 14,872 to 13,524.

In April, Mr. Shimkus won the Republican nomination through a write-in campaign after a judge threw his name off the primary ballot. The judge had ruled he knowingly used an incorrect address on nominating petitions.

During a concession speech Tuesday evening Mr. Shimkus attributed his loss to his place on the ballot, noting a “powerful straight Democratic vote.”

“Did I lose because of the allegations and the negative campaigning? I don’t think so,” Mr. Shimkus added.

Neither Mr. Shimkus or Mr. Murphy returned calls Wednesday. Mr. Shimkus and his wife, Gabrielle, were flying Wednesday to Kyrgyzstan to adopt a son with special needs.

Of the 29,459 votes cast in the 113th District, 6,920, or 23.5 percent, were straight Democratic Party votes, according to unofficial results. Another 2,493, or 8.5 percent, were straight Republican Party votes.

“I think you saw one of the strongest coattail elections in the history of this nation,” Mr. McGrath said. “But I also think people made a conscious effort to vote for Kevin Murphy. He went out, knocked on doors and did the kind of retail campaigning needed at that level.”

Don’t discount that type of grass-roots campaigning, Jean Harris, Ph.D., a political science professor at the University of Scranton, said.

“For all the technology that’s been used to touch people ... those kinds of face-to-face interactions are still very important,” she said.

Dr. Harris added she wasn’t convinced Mr. Shimkus’ loss could be fully attributed to a large Democratic wave of support.

“You have to give voters credit. I think they thought about how they were voting,” she said. “In the Shimkus race, look how he ran initially: to clean up state government. And then look at what was known of his own behavior while he was (in Harrisburg).”

Of the 214 per diems Mr. Shimkus took between March 2007 and June, some include expenses on Sundays and even Dec. 26 and Dec. 27, when the Capitol is traditionally quiet following Christmas. The former 113th representative, Gaynor Cawley, also racked up per diems — the most of any state legislator between 2004 and 2006 — receiving reimbursement for $53,030 in two years.

“I think people are still frustrated with what’s been going on in state government,” Dr. Harris added.

Scranton City Council President Janet Evans attributed the win to Mr. Murphy working hard and performing especially well in Scranton.

“People, especially in these troubled economic times, they’re being very careful now who they choose,” she said. “They’re looking for people in elected office who will work for them.”

Likely it was a bit of everything that did in Mr. Shimkus, concluded City Councilman Bill Courtright.

“I talked to a few senior citizens before the election who were just shocked by the per diems,” he said. “But I think maybe it was a combination of straight (Democratic votes), per diems and the fact that (Mr. Murphy) worked very hard.”

Contact the writer: cschillinger@timesshamrock.com