Carbon County Commissioner Chris Lukasevich planned a re-election bid as an independent candidate, but decided not to file.

The decision came down to putting his family first, he said Tuesday, one week after the deadline to file petitions.

But Lukasevich was ready to move forward with a late-summer, re-election campaign with a booth at the Carbon County Fair this week.

New campaign signs, mugs, individual wrapped mints and other campaign merchandise were also ready, he said. He also felt confident in a historic victory as an independent candidate, he said.

The tipping point came just hours before the deadline, Lukasevich said, when he came home for lunch.

His wife, Maggie, a local artist in the midst of a second launch of her own career, informed him it was going to be a rough week. The caregiver of their special needs daughter couldn’t help them for a couple of days because of an illness, she told him.

The look in her eyes said it all - she knew the responsibilities at home would fall on her shoulders, Lukasevich said.

“I stepped back and I said, ‘I’ve been selfish,’” he said.

For more than four decades, Lukasevich said his top priorities were “country, county and Chris,” and his family not only allowed, but supported his choices.

“All of the successes that I’ve achieved, there was no way ... that I could have accomplished what I’ve accomplished in my life without my wife and kids and their support,” he said.

“At the end of the day ... the most selfless people in this world,” Lukasevich said.

He said he also felt he had a debt to pay back to the community for instilling in him three core factors - his values, beliefs and work ethic - also key to his success in life.

That repayment came in victories for the people of Carbon County and making a difference while in office as a commissioner, Lukasevich said.

People may not associate him with these wins for the county, but he said he’s OK with that, because he knows and has been silently keeping a mental tally. And that local debt is about repaid, he said.

Lukasevich pointed to things, such as people being able to watch commissioners’ meetings on Facebook, or helping broker the $10 million investment in the county railroad, or securing priority access for citizens and members to Mauch Chunk Lake Park.

Still on the list for Lukasevich are a shelter for homeless women and rectifying the situation for a Jim Thorpe family living next to a crumbling home on Center Avenue.

“We’re going to have that shelter sometime this year,” he said.

And the borough of Jim Thorpe has agreed to participate in a pilot program through the county to help homeowners rehabilitate a half-double home after the other half is razed due to blight, Lukasevich said.

Lukasevich said he worked with the county’s planning and development office to form a program to help homeowners throughout the county, because the problem of blight reaches farther than the county seat.

“So, I’m comfortable, because those were the last two really big ones,” he said.

He plans to continue working as a senior mentor and technical adviser to U.S. Army Special Forces, which he has done for years even before taking office.

Lukasevich hasn’t ruled out another run for elected office sometime down the road – possibly as soon as 2027, he said.