Mary Jo Moss announces write-in campaign for Schuylkill County Commissioner

Jul. 31—SUMMIT STATION — Contending that the results of the Republican primary in May do not represent the majority of voters, Mary Jo Moss has launched a write-in campaign for Schuylkill County commissioner.

"There's a lot of unrest out there," Moss said. "The people are looking for a choice."

Moss, 60, a West Brunswick Twp. electrical engineer, set up a stand Monday at the Schuylkill County Fair.

"Write In Mary Jo Moss for Schuylkill County Commissioner," a large sign at the stand says.

Write-in campaigns are notoriously difficult, but Moss says friends urged her to run for the office.

"People are very excited," she said. "I gave it a lot of thought, I crunched the numbers and I decided it was doable."

Moss' decision to run has the potential for affecting the outcome of the general election on Nov. 7.

Even if she isn't elected, the votes she draws could shift the momentum to one candidate or another.

And, Moss said, there are rumblings that other candidates might also launch write-in campaigns. She did not name them.

Howard Merrick, Republican county chairman, said the party is honoring the primary results.

"Republican voters spoke in the primary," he said. "And we're standing by them."

In the Republican primary in May, Moss finished third behind Larry Padora and Barron L. "Boots" Hetherington, the party's nominees for county commissioner.

Padora was top vote-getter with 5,871, followed by incumbent Hetherington with 5,210. Moss got 4,534 votes.

With a total of 29,495 votes cast, Moss points out that neither of the nominees got more than 20% of the vote.

With eight Republicans seeking the party's nomination, Padora and Hetherington combined received only 37.5% of the votes cast.

Put another way, that means 62.5% of Republican voters did not vote for the party's nominees.

"The primary vote," Moss said, "was not indicative of the people's choice."

In November, Moss believes, she can draw votes from Democrats, independents and people who did not vote in the primary.

Aware of the intricacies of write-in campaigns, Moss devised a method she believes will make it easier on voters who support her.

She had ink stamps made with "Mary Jo Moss" on it. At the polls, she plans to hand it to voters who can stamp her name on the ballot. The trick is, however, they must color in the tiny oval in front of the candidate's name for the vote to count.

"A write-in campaign is all about educating voters," Moss said.

Moss' research indicates that using a stamp is allowable. Albert L. Gricoski, Schuylkill County director of elections, said he will have to do some research to determine if a stamp is allowable.

A senior electrical engineer with supervisory experience, Moss' biography says she completed a fellowship in education policy and leadership.

She chairs the Schuylkill County Zoning Hearing Board, and is an adjunct instructor at Penn State Schuylkill. She is a member of the Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce Broadband Task Force.

Contact the writer: rdevlin@republicanherald.com; 570-628-6007