For the past couple of months, Bradford County Commissioner Doug McLinko has endured his fair share of criticism over his decision to run for the state Senate seat that is currently held by retiring Sen. Roger Madigan.
    And whether that criticism was deserved or not is not for us to judge. This opinion will be focused solely on whether or not McLinko should have announced a run for state Senate so shortly after winning re-election as Bradford County.
    This series of events is not new to Bradford County voters. Back in 2000, Tina Pickett — who had just won re-election to the Bradford County Board of Commissioners — decided to run for the state Representative seat that was being vacated at the end of the year by J. Scot Chadwick.
    Her decision to run, and her ensuing victory, has paid dividends for Bradford County and its taxpayers.
    Which leads us to the seat currently held by Madigan.
    We ask — why shouldn’t McLinko decide to throw his hat into the ring? Bradford County is one of the counties that makes up Madigan’s Senate district. In fact, McLinko is the only person from Bradford County to campaign for that seat.
    Why is he running? McLinko has commented in the past that he was asked by many residents from throughout the county to run. How can one fault that decision?
    We understand that some voters may feel betrayed by McLinko’s decision to run for state Senate so soon after being re-elected as county commissioner. But we believe that his decision was one that will benefit Bradford County.
    During his numerous campaign stops, McLinko has attempted to keep the focus on the rural aspects of the district, mainly because there is a fear that someone from a large urban area may ignore the smaller rural areas of the district if elected. We don’t know if that fact is true, but it should continue to be promoted in an effort to keep everyone involved in this campaign honest about their intentions.
    The fact is, this is a free country. McLinko has a right to run for state Senate, and everyone also has the right to either praise him or criticize him for that decision.
    But the main thing is McLinko is looking after the residents of Bradford County by running for this seat in the state government. Bradford County needs to be represented in both houses at the state level to allow for the state lawmakers to remember that rural Pennsylvania still counts for something.