Former Philadelphia U.S. Attorney Pat Meehan is asking a Pennsylvania court to throw out a motion challenging the validity of signatures on his nominating petitions for a House seat, The Hill’s Ballot Box blog reported Thursday.
Pat Meehan (DOJ)
Four Pennsylvania Republicans filed a motion asking the court to rule that most of the 3,623 signatures Meehan submitted are invalid. If the signatures are found to be illegitimate, Meehan would be ineligible to run in the May 18 GOP primary for the 7th congressional district seat in southeast Pennsylvania. Last week, Meehan tried to preempt any controversy over his petition signatures by notifying the Delaware County, Pa., prosecutor that four signatures may have had problems.
Meehan blamed state Rep. Bryan Lentz, the likely Democratic nominee for the seat, for the challenge. In a letter to the Democratic candidate, Meehan called the motion a “shameless stunt.”
“Their petition to strike the nominating papers is devoid of any merit,” James Colins, a Meehan campaign lawyer, told The Hill. “They’re doing this to get some free publicity.”
The Lentz campaign said it is supporting the challenge.
“This challenge will demonstrate that the instances of forgery and fraud in Meehan’s petitions extend far beyond what Meehan and his organization was willing to admit in their confession to the district attorney last week,” Lentz campaign manager Vincent Rongione said in a statement. “Given the pervasive fraud and systemic abuse of the public trust, Pat Meehan may not have met the legal standard necessary to placed on the ballot.”
Meehan, who served as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania during the George W. Bush administration, is looking to succeed Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.), who is running against Sen. Arlen Specter in the Democratic Senate primary. The former U.S. Attorney is the only candidate in the Republican primary.
Michael Barley, a Pennsylvania Republican Party spokesperson, told The Hill that the party continues to stand behind Meehan.
“We remain confident that Pat Meehan’s petitions, at the end of the day, are valid and he’ll be on the ballot,” Barley told the blog.
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