Forgotten: How the People of One Pennsylvania County Elected Donald Trump and Changed America

by Ben Bradlee

People in Luzerne are cynical about corruption and think it’s ingrained in the local culture, from the coal mining bosses of yesteryear to the Mafia, which established bases in Pittston and Hazleton from the 1950s into the 1990s. Congressman Dan Flood had to resign in disgrace in 1980 after being censured for bribery, while another area congressman, Joe McDade, was indicted in 1992, though he was acquitted. And in 2008, the so-called Kids for Cash scandal—in which two Luzerne judges and two businessmen were convicted of a kickback scheme to funnel arrested juveniles to a for-profit detention center in violation of their rights—resulted in thousands of convictions being tossed out, and provoked widespread outrage that lingers to this day.

There is a very real sense here that corruption runs deep and strong. An attempt to address this a few years back was a total reorganization of the government structure in the city of Wilkes Barre. But it will be a long time before the general attitude that all politicians are corrupt can be changed.