May 27, 2020 4 min read

Citing an ongoing clash over the Local Share Account allocation from casino gambling, his razor-thin margin two years ago, and their support of his opponent in the June 2 primary, state Rep. Bud Cook asked two Washington County Elections Board members to step aside from their duties.

Cook, R-West Pike Run Township, who was elected to the Legislature in 2016 from the 49th District in parts of Washington and Fayette Counties, is seeking a third, two-year term. But first he faces a challenge from within the GOP by Tony Bottino Jr. of Carroll Township, who kicked off his campaign for the Mon Valley seat last November.

The three Washington County commissioners serve as the election board during years when their names are not on the ballot.

In a certified letter sent last week, Cook requested that commission Chairman Diana Irey Vaughan and Commissioner Nick Sherman, who constitute the Republican Party majority on the three-member board, “voluntarily recuse themselves from primary election oversight.”

Both political veteran Irey Vaughan and Sherman, who was then a commissioner-elect, announced their support of Bottino at a gathering shortly after the November 2019 election, more than six months after Cook floated a proposal to drastically alter the state law governing the distribution of local revenue from The Meadows Racetrack & Casino. His memorandum does not appear to have gained co-sponsors, nor was it listed Tuesday morning as having been introduced in the form of a bill.

Cook’s Right-to-Know request for records of the Washington County Redevelopment Authority, administrator of the local share program on behalf of the commissioners, is pending in court.

The incumbent also took issue with the 2018 election board’s handling of his reelection bid. Irey Vaughan, then-Commission Chairman Larry Maggi and former commissioner Harlan Shober oversaw the process in Washington in which Cook ultimately won by 11 votes over Democrat Steve Toprani out of nearly 20,000 cast. Cook lost the Washington County part of the district, but was re-elected by prevailing in Fayette County precincts of the 49th District.

Cook, in a news release, claimed “several absentee ballots (were) misplaced, questionable provisional ballots (were) accepted and to my knowledge at least one absentee ballot from that contest remains missing to this day.”

Washington County Judge Gary Gilman threw out Toprani’s attempt to challenge the result, and the Democrat conceded shortly before Christmas of that year.

Irey Vaughan has been a commissioner and election board member during many years since she took office in 1996. In response to an email inquiry, she noted no other candidate has ever asked that she recuse herself from election-related tasks.

“Our duties are ongoing,” she wrote. “We determine wages paid to poll workers, canvass board members, cleaning, delivery and retrieval of machines and ballots, etc. We oversee many operations and would typically only have direct contact with a ballot to review if it was challenged. In that instance we would request the opinion of our solicitor.”

The commissioner also forwarded Cook’s letter to county Solicitor Jana Grimm, who determined that members of the board “would continue with (their) duties.”

Sherman, in a statement, said “Cook has been in office for four years and has yet to pass a meaningful piece of legislation to advance the economy of the Mon Valley.

“As county commissioner, we should be working together in the best interest of our shared constituents, focusing on bringing jobs to the 49th district. Commissioner Irey Vaughan and I will remain on the Elections Board and continue to work with both sides of the aisle to ensure that all county residents’ votes are counted. This process is the foundation of our country, and Commissioner Irey Vaughan and I take these responsibilities very seriously.”

If Irey Vaughan and Sherman don’t voluntarily recuse themselves, Cook said he will consider pursuing court action to remove them from the upcoming contest and/or have attorneys present in the election office on June 2.

The Democratic candidate running unopposed in the primary is Randy Barli of Coal Center.