12 Sep Cartwright Opens HQ, Bolus Hot on Trail

Democratic Congressman Matt Cartwright’s campaign headquarters opened recently on Scranton’s Wyoming Avenue.  Hot on Cartwright’s heels was a tractor-trailer owned by local businessman Bob Bolus.  Parked out front of the office, the truck was plastered with photos and banners critical of Cartwright and his fellow Democrats.

“It’s young fellas having a prank, and I enjoy a prank as much as anybody else,” Cartwright told WNEP.

While the Young Republicans of Lackawanna County manned the protest, the tractor-trailer is in fact owned by the seventy five year old Bolus. A convicted felon and failed eight time candidate for local office, he and the truck gained notoriety during the 2016 presidential campaign when it was festooned with pro-Trump messages and parked outside the then candidate’s area rallies.

In 1991, Bolus was convicted by a Lackawanna County jury of receiving stolen property, tampering with or fabricating physical evidence, and criminal solicitation. In 2012, he was convicted by another jury of insurance fraud and attempted theft by deception. He served time in the county prison.

In a sign of the increasingly bitter nature of politics in 2018, the truck called the two-term congressman from Pennsylvania’s Eighth District a “bad American.”

“Democrats in Lackawanna County might align more with President Trump than Matt Cartwright. That’s the message,” said Christian Boris, who volunteered for the protest and is a member of the Young Republicans.