Scranton’s mayoral election picked up two independent candidates who each hope to oust Democratic incumbent Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti in the Nov. 4 general election.
Republican Patricia “Trish” Beynon previously secured the GOP nomination to challenge Cognetti, who won the Democratic nomination in the May 20 primary.
Now, as expected, Eugene “Gene” Barrett, a former longtime executive director of the Scranton Sewer Authority and a former city councilman, met Friday’s deadline to file paperwork to run for mayor as a independent.
Earlier this year, Barrett had announced plans to run in the Democratic primary for mayor but then didn’t and decided instead to run as an independent.
On Friday, the Cognetti campaign communications director, Wendy Wilson, issued a statement that called into question Barrett’s record as sewer authority director and as a councilman. As a councilman, Barrett voted in late 1991 in favor of having the city designated as financially distressed under state Act 47. The state approved the designation in early 1992. The city would not shed the distressed label until 2022, when Cognetti was mayor. Barrett also for years served as executive director of the Scranton Sewer Authority and was in that role when former Mayor Bill Courtright pushed for the authority to sell the sewer system to Pennsylvania American Water. That resulted in the landmark $195 million sewer sale completed in December 2016, which was a major step in the city’s financial recovery but the loss of a valuable asset.
“Gene Barrett represents the ghosts of Scranton’s dark past; Mayor Paige Cognetti is the city’s bright future,” Wilson’s statement said. “Scranton has come a long way since Gene Barrett has been in office. Mayor Paige is driven by the tenets of good government and ensuring that elected officials prioritize their constituents over their own special interests. She has rightfully done a great job of earning the trust of voters.”
Reached Monday for comment, Barrett issued to The Times-Tribune his resume listing extensive public, private and military service.
“I have spent over 40 years in public and private service dedicated to Scranton,” along with seven years of active duty in the Army, Barrett said in an email. “Now they have real competition (for mayor) or they would not have responded so negatively to my entering the race.”
The other independent candidate for Scranton mayor who met Friday’s deadline to file the required paperwork was Rik Little. Listing his address as homeless, Little filed Thursday for mayor as the AAAMission from God party candidate.
Scranton City Council
Meanwhile, in the race for three open seats on Scranton City Council, current council President Gerald Smurl — who initially ran in the Democratic primary but withdrew in March amid issues with certain signatures on his nomination petitions — filed to run as an independent.
Smurl’s entry into the council race as an independent makes him the sixth candidate in a contest that has three, four-year council terms up for grabs. The other five council candidates are Virgil Argenta, Patrick Flynn, Sean McAndrew, Marc Pane and incumbent Councilman Tom Schuster.
Flynn, McAndrew and Schuster won the Democratic primary, while Pane won the GOP primary. Argenta lost in the Democratic primary but got enough Republican write-in votes to win a GOP nomination. McAndrew also secured a Republican nomination through GOP write-in votes.
The three council seats available are those of Schuster, Smurl and Bill King, who is not seeking reelection. The three winners of the general election would join on council the other two members not up for reelection this year: Jessica Rothchild and Mark McAndrew.
Elsewhere in Lackawanna County
According to the Lackawanna County Department of Elections, other candidates who filed to run as independents for various municipal offices include:
Valley View School Board, Region 1: Julie Budd-Kulenich.
Throop Borough Council: John Richardson.
Spring Brook Twp. Supervisor: Ken Genovese.
South Abington Twp. Supervisor: Dean Faraday.
Friday is the deadline for challenges to independent candidates’ filing of their papers to run.
Staff Writer Jeff Horvath contributed to this report
Scranton Mayor-Elect Paige Gebhardt Cognetti at Scranton City Hall in Scranton on Nov. 7, 2019.
Patricia “Trish” Beynon, Republican candidate for Scranton mayor in 2025 primary and general elections. (PHOTO PROVIDED / COURTESY OF PATRICIA BEYNON)
Eugene “Gene” Barrett of Scranton, candidate photo for Scranton mayoral election in the 2025 Democratic primary. (PHOTO SUBMITTED / COURTESY OF EUGENE BARRETT)
A campaign poster of Rik Little, who met the Aug. 1, 2025 deadline to file as an independent for mayor of Scranton in the Nov. 4 general election. Photo taken on July 10, 2025 in the 500 block of Cedar Avenue in South Scranton. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)