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GEORGE VITTECK WINS DEMOCRATIC NOD
January 11, 2008
Washington-George Vitteck has won the post that he has coveted for years, Chairman of the Washington County Democratic Party. In a stunning upset, engineered by Kingmaker George Retos, Vitteck and his entire team of supporters were swept into office after over a year of disputed elections.
Milan Marinkovich, the powerful but contraversial former chairman, was soundly defeated by Vitteck in spite of high profile defections from Vitteck’s camp including Democratic State Committeewoman Peg Wilson.
One of the bones of contention was the support of Republican nominees Phyllis Ranko Matheny and Steve Toprani for office this fall. As part of Milan’s strategy to help defeat both Judith Fisher and John Pettit, there was no distribution of funds for the Democratic party faithful.
It was this discontent that Vitteck with the aide and advice of Retos tapped into for victory. Strangely, Retos was a supporter of Toprani’s also. Matheny’s supporters have stated numerous times that Matheny was and is a registered Democrat and only won the Republican nomination.
Vitteck has coveted the post for decades due to his admiration of the old party bosses of his youth. Men like Mike Hanna ran the Democratic party with an iron fist and controlled elections and Vitteck is considered by many to be a standard bearer for a return to the “good old days”. Vitteck was and continues to be a staunch supporter of former District Attorney John Pettit who was soundly defeated for re-election and is facing an FBI investigation into possible wrongdoing.
