LEWISBURG — Union County District Attorney D. Peter Johnson and challenger Andrew Lyons are gearing up for another battle at the polls in November, six months after an exceptionally tight primary race.
In May, Mr. Johnson lost the Republican nomination to Mr. Lyons by 13 votes but won the Democratic Party nomination by two votes.
The narrow primary results have both candidates back on the stump, meeting with voters and relaying their message as the Nov. 6 general election looms.
“I am making an effort to (campaign in areas) I didn’t get to in the spring,” said Mr. Lyons, who is running on an “It’s Time for a Change” platform for the four-year, full-time position that pays $145,000 annually.
Mr. Johnson, who’s facing his first challenge since he was elected in 1995 after defeating Mr. Lyons for the county prosecutor job, said he’s going door-to-door to tell residents what he’s accomplished in three terms rather than respond to criticism from his opponent.
The candidates know each other well, having worked together as assistant district attorneys under former District Attorney Graham Showalter during the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Mr. Lyons, who has run a private law practice in Lewisburg for 32 years, said he was prompted to try to return to elected office by a lifelong commitment to public service and to counter what he views as Mr. Johnson’s inconsistent and “emotional” prosecutorial style.
Describing Mr. Johnson as having a “Dr. Jekyll-Mr. Hyde” personality, Mr. Lyons accuses his opponent of having a charming public persona and being stubborn and uncooperative in his dealings with other county officials and police.
Mr. Lyons said he would run the office in a more professional, detached and proactive manner, offering drug-prevention programs in public schools, supporting sheriff deputies’ in their quest for police powers throughout the county and consistently applying the law.
Mr. Johnson would not respond to any of Mr. Lyons’ comments, repeating his position that he’s running on his record of being a “fair-minded, even-handed district attorney who applies justice without politics and applies the law and facts of a case consistently.”
In the 12 years Mr. Johnson has been in office, Union County’s criminal case load has risen about 88 percent and is nearing 500 cases annually.
During the next four years, Mr. Johnson said, he’d like to be involved in implementing drug court, support other specialty treatment courts, focus on the increasing number of offenders between the ages of 15 and 25 who are committing nonviolent property crime to support drug habits and curtail the “supply side” by continuing to work with other agencies on the East Drug Task Force.
He says he’s proud of his handling of victims and witnesses, helping them understand the justice system and including them in discussions about the process.
“Every victim faces a new challenging trauma,” Mr. Johnson said.
Disabled by a rare neurological disorder called transverse myelitis that left him unable to walk at age 24 in April 1980, Mr. Johnson said his disability gives him a unique perspective as a prosecutor.
“Victims see me and know I’m familiar with suffering and adversity. It’s easier for people to relate to me,” he said.
Pressed for comment on Mr. Lyons’ accusations that he “dropped the ball” in 1996 when he declined to prosecute alleged child molester Jack Harclerode when convicted murderer Norman Gundrum Jr. came forward with claims that he was abused as child by the retired Bucknell University professor, Mr. Johnson again refused to respond.
Mr. Harclerode, 71, was charged for the first time last spring, accused of molesting a 10-year-old boy at a Columbia County campground in July 2006 and possessing images of child pornography at his Lewisburg home. The cases are pending.
Said Mr. Johnson: “I don’t know why Andy wants to be negative instead of talking about what he would do. My campaign is about talking about my tenure, seeking justice, fighting crime on a case-by-case basis. Voters are mistreated by negative campaigning.”
Mr. Lyons said while Mr. Johnson may not want to comment for a newspaper article, he accused his opponent of slinging some mud of his own on the campaign trail.
Mr. Lyons said he’s frequently been confronted in public, including at a recent Hartley Township supervisors meeting, by Mr. Johnson accusing him of running a campaign underwritten by Bucknell University.
“He’s degraded my supporters and is throwing his own mud,” Mr. Lyons said, adding he was never approached to seek office by university officials and only 10 of the 144 contributors to his campaign are connected to Bucknell.
“No one is going to control me,” he said.
n E-mail comments to mmoore@dailyitem.com
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