W&L Alumna Running for Scranton Mayor
Washington and Lee alumna Elizabeth Randol, of the Class of 1993, is bidding to become the first female mayor of Scranton, Pa.
Liz is one of four Democratic candidates on the ballot in the May 21 primary.
This is not her first foray into Pennsylvania politics. In 2011, she ran a primary campaign for Lackawanna county commissioner. She lost that race by 403 votes to the incumbent, but many observers considered her showing a surprise, and local media see her as a strong contender in the mayoral race.
If you’ve followed the news about Scranton (beyond stories about this week’s series finale of “The Office”), you know about a series of national stories last July that the city might file for bankruptcy.
The theme of Liz’s campaign, as seen on her website, is “Recover. Reclaim. Rebuild,” and she makes plain that the “most daunting task of the next Mayor will be addressing the city’s financial future.”
A philosophy major at W&L, Liz wound up in Scranton when she joined the faculty of the University of Scranton after earning her Ph.D. in philosophy from the State University of New York at Binghamton.
She taught in the departments of philosophy, sociology and women’s studies and directed the university’s Jane Kopas Women’s Center. She also served as the university’s director of civic engagement before moving into politics, first as campaign manager for the Democratic team running for Lackawanna county commissioners, and later as a candidate in her own right. She’s also been a policy director for the Pennsylvania treasurer and, most recently, director of strategic operations for a Scranton construction company.
