Incumbent Democratic Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti trounced challenger Bob Sheridan, the chairman of the city Democratic Committee and former Scranton School Board president, in Tuesday’s primary election, according to unofficial results.
On the Republican side, accounting executive Patricia Beynon defeated business owner Lynn Labrosky for the GOP nomination for city mayor.
With 48 of 48 precincts reporting, Cognetti received with 6,264 votes, or 75.51%, while Sheridan trailed with 1,864 votes, or 22.47%.
Beynon garnered 926 votes, or 44.73%, while Labrosky tallied 808 votes, or 39.03%.
Cognetti and Beynon now advance to face each other in the Nov. 4 general election.
During a post-election victory speech at her campaign headquarters downtown, Cognetti likened the campaign to a report card for her administration and said she was able to run for another term “on the solid ground of success” of her prior years in office. “We are just grateful for this opportunity to move on from today and into the general” election.
Efforts to reach Beynon were unsuccessful.
The Scranton mayoral primary essentially amounted to a referendum on Cognetti, an Oregon native who moved to the city in 2016 and, following a stint on the Scranton School Board, comfortably won a 2019 special election to fill the unexpired term of corrupt former Mayor Bill Courtright. She sailed to reelection two years later, winning her first full four-year term by besting challengers in the 2021 primary and municipal elections by large margins.
Scranton Mayor-Elect Paige Gebhardt Cognetti at Scranton City Hall in Scranton on Nov. 7, 2019.
Robert “Bob” Sheridan, candidate in the 2025 Democratic primary election for mayor of Scranton. (PHOTO SUBMITTED / COURTESY OF BOB SHERIDAN)
Patricia “Trish” Beynon, Republican candidate for Scranton mayor in the May 20, 2025 primary election. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
Lynn Labrosky, Republican candidate for Scranton mayor in the May 20, 2025 primary election. (PHOTO PROVIDED / COURTESY OF LYNN LABROSKY)