Conklin Reenters Lock Haven Race for Mayor

LOCK HAVEN – Three weeks after dropping out of the Lock Haven race for mayor, city council member Rick Conklin is back in, this time as a write-in candidate.

Conklin had announced March 5 he was withdrawing as a candidate for “personal and professional reasons.”

But Tuesday night he issued a statement saying he is back as a candidate:

“I am formally announcing that I am reentering the race for mayor of the city of Lock Haven. Now this will require a write-in effort. I ask all my supporters to write in Richard Conklin for the Republican candidate for mayor on the May 21st primary.

“It will be difficult for many of you to understand why I have decided to enter the race again. The political process is in my blood. I left the campaign believing that, once out of the campaign, I could refocus and not be distracted from my professional obligations. The fact is that did not happen, and I continue to think about the election every day.

“I owe it to the residents of Lock Haven to give them a committed candidate choice in November. I owe it to myself because I believe I am that choice. Serving is what I have been doing since June of 2007, serving is what I do, serving is what I want to do, and serving is what I will do.”

Conklin becomes the only announced candidate for the Republican nomination in May. There is one candidate on the Democratic ballot, fellow council member Joel Long. Current Mayor Bill Baney, a Democrat, announced earlier this year he would not seek re-election.