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Judge rules Touey can’t be on ballot, leaving Lentz alone in 7th District
Let the general election begin in the 7th Congressional District.
A state judge ruled Thursday that Democrat E. Teresa Touey had only 992 valid signatures on her nominating petitions, less than the 1,000 required. Commonwealth Court Judge P. Kevin Brobson’s decision kept Touey off the May primary ballot, leaving state Representative Bryan Lentz (D-Delaware) as the only Democrat in the race. He will face former U.S. Attorney Pat Meehan in November, and the two have already been jousting for months.
For Touey, the ruling ended a campaign that never really got off the ground. After announcing her candidacy at a sparsely-attended news conference last September, Touey raised little money and built even less of a political organization. In a statement Friday, she was sharply critical of Lentz, who spearheaded ballot challenges against all three of his opponents. A challenge against Democrat Gail Conner prompted her to drop out of the race, while a challenge against Meehan was unsuccessful.
In her statement, Touey said that Lentz had avoided “the rigors of a Democratic primary which would require him to articulate his beliefs and his ideas in forums, debates and opinion pages on the difficult realities facing the country and the voters would have prepared him best for the tough general election in the fall.”
“I want a system that encourages candidates and voters to get involved to support my party and candidates in whom they believe,” Touey said. “Is this an unreasonable position? My conclusion about this legal and political experience is a renewed commitment to working on ballot access issues in my home state.”
For Lentz, the clear field may help him raise money from Democratic donors who were hesitant to get involved in a primary, albeit one that was never seriously in doubt.
Lentz campaign manager Vincent Rongione said that “unfortunately, Ms. Touey did not meet the minimum number of signatures required by law.”
“It is a very low threshold and the law is very clear,” he said in a statement. “It is unfortunate but we are moving full speed ahead toward the general election, and we look forward to debating all of the issues facing our nation with the GOP machine’s candidate.”
April 16, 2010 at 3:06 pm
Tags: Bryan Lentz, E. Teresa Touey, Gail Conner, PA-7, Pat Meehan
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flynnbw
Apr 16th, 2010
Sorry Ms. Touey, but it’s the law.
Its Just WRONG
Apr 16th, 2010
Its Just wrong that it is so Hard to get on the Ballot anyone including the Village Idiot should be able to Run . In Maryland it only takes 100 Dollars To run for Congress It should be easier not Hard to run . They Raised the signiture requirements to Keep The La Rouche people off the Ballot Well they are pretty much gone now . Lets have Initiative and referendum in Pennsylvania so we can make Ballot access easier . Let the people Decide no the Corrupt Judges
David Diano
Apr 16th, 2010
Based on other conversations I’ve had with other ballot defenders and my own experience with voter files, I strongly suspect that another Judge might have allowed 8 of the struck signatures.
Sadly, too many challenges are fishing expeditions, and the burden falls to the challenged, not the challenger.
There should be a penalty for every challenged line that is found lacking. My remedy would be to remove from the challenge another challenge line that hasn’t been ruled on yet (and the challenged candidate gets to pick which one).
What will help Lentz raise the most money is the resounding defeat of Joe Sestak, and the end of the giant suction of campaign funds away from other candidates.
huw
Apr 16th, 2010
so do you think Meehan will challenge Scheller’s petition if he has one?
Konins
Apr 16th, 2010
I am certain that Pat Meehan will defend to the death the right of an opponent to the right of him on the political spectrum to run as an independent in the November election. Mr. Meehan believes strongly in the democracy. That’s why he gets people like Paul Summers to break legs and forge petitions.
huw
Apr 16th, 2010
gosh, Meehan might even lend Schneller Summers to get a few signatures if he’s a few short. That’s just the kinda guy Pat is.
sick of it all
Apr 16th, 2010
watch these republican judges they are making decisions that radically change the law to limit ballot access…touey should appeal just to straighten that out
Manny Is a Muslim
Apr 17th, 2010
The Challenger should go to Jail for fraud if even one Challenged signiture is found to be good / We Need to end this High Hurdle to get on the Ballot . You should only have to Sign a Paper saying that you are running for whatever office . There is no reason in the World that we should have only 2 People to Choose from in an Office that is a State wide office Its Just Insane and If some wacky person gets on the ballot well thats what the Press if for to tell people what the deal is even if we elect the village Idiot he or she would be better than what we have now Oh and No More Lawyers are allowed to run for office cause they come under The Judicial branch of government
michael livingston
Apr 18th, 2010
Lentz has an interesting theory: gather endorsements and try to knock his challengers off the ballot with petition challenges. That he is a total lightweight running against a very competent, serious Republican is apparently something he hopes will go unnoticed. The more time he and other Democrats spend on this procedural nonsense, the less time they will have to resist the tsunami coming in the Fall.
huw
Apr 18th, 2010
Spin from Michael Livingston. I doubt there will be a tsunami in the 7th congressional district and i doubt Pat Meehan and his campaign believe that either. This will be a close race between two fairly well qualified candidates who have both raised substantial amounts of money. In an off year election Meehan has the advantage and is still the favorite. Lentz has little to lose by knocking off two underfunded opponents early. Now we’ll see if Meehan will knock off Schneller later in the summer.
Brett
Apr 18th, 2010
Went out on a date with Touey, charming personable too good for politics.
Michael A. Livingston
Apr 19th, 2010
Brett,
You don’t say how the date went. This is unfair to your readers. If you do not provide this info., I plan to sue you in front of the same judge that knocked her off the ballot.
TB
Apr 19th, 2010
I would agree with Livingston that Lentz is wasting time and resources in knocking ppl off the ballot when he should be focusing his energy on growing the Democratic registration in Delco while developing a lethal attack machine to bite at Meehan’s heels from now until November.
aajane
Apr 19th, 2010
Brett, that’s tacky
Michael, are you prying into female candidate’s personal lives again? Didn’t previous comments along this line cause a ruckus not long ago?