Tuesday marked the deadline for challenging the petitions of candidates seeking to appear on the May 19 primary ballot, and amid a flurry of such efforts in Western Pennsylvania, one candidate plays a role in three challenges taking place in two separate Congressional districts.
Democrat Will Parker, who has run for office multiple times and has been known to bring a bullhorn to political gatherings, has challenged the election petitions for both U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio in the 17th District and U.S. Rep Summer Lee in the 12th District. Parker himself is a candidate in the latter race, where he faces a challenge to his own petitions.
Under state law, the petitions that candidates circulate among voters to earn a spot on the ballot are subject to review and challenge by voters or rival campaigns, which often seek to remove candidates who have filed deficient paperwork or are not otherwise eligible to run.
Parker’s challenges to Deluzio and Lee — both Democrats — complain that neither included their home address on their public filings, as state law generally requires. Parker’s complaint says the omission is “an attempt to mislead the public and or hide information.”
But the state Commonwealth Court last month granted a request by Lee and Deluzio, along with three other Democrats representing Pennsylvania in Congress, to redact that information.
President Judge Renee Cohn Jubelirer ruled Feb. 12 that the candidates had demonstrated “recent, reasonable, and legitimate concerns for their and their families’ personal security and safety should petitioners’ residential addresses be disclosed.”
Deluzio’s district offices were targeted by bomb threats after President Donald Trump accused him and other Democrats of sedition. And there have been other signs of stepped-up security around political events in recent months.
In some races, a candidate’s address can determine whether a candidate meets residency requirements for the post. But Jubelirer noted that to run for Congress, one needs only be a resident of the state on Election Day itself, which means the public had little stake in having that information now.
Adam Bonin, a prominent Democratic attorney who represented the Congressional representatives in the court proceeding, noted that voters could seek to redact their own information if they face a threat of violence.
“These candidates have taken steps to protect their privacy and safety, the same way any voter who has received threats has the right to do,” he said.
It’s not clear that Parker has a legal basis to object to Deluzio’s petitions in any case because he is a resident and candidate in Lee’s district. His own credentials to run in the 12th District have also been challenged.
The challengers include Sylvia Wilson, a longtime union activist and school board member, and Sam Wasserman, a political consultant who has been active in campaigns for progressive politicians.
Together, they alleged that some 2,391 of the 3,290 signatures that Parker gathered were defective for one reason or another: Some signers were not registered as Democrats in the district, they alleged, while others were gathered by petitioners who weren’t eligible to do so.
If all of those signatures were struck, Parker would be left with 899 signatures — just 101 shy of the 1,000 signatures a candidate for Congress needs to earn a spot on the ballot.
Parker shrugged off the petition, saying “I’ve been challenged several times over the past few years by the same people” who have supported the incumbents in the past. “Now they’re the ones being held to a standard which they clearly failed to meet.”
A challenge was also filed against a Republican candidate for the 17th District seat: Jesse James Vodvarka. Two petitioners, Craig R. Holdren and Robert C. Howard, allege 211 of Vodvarka’s 1,111 signatures should be invalidated.
Other challenges
Pa. House District 45
In the state House race to replace retiring Rep. Anita Kulik, the filings of two candidates — one Republican and one Democrat — were called into question: In total, there are two Republicans and four Democrats running for the seat held by Kulik, a conservative Democrat who served in the legislature for 10 years.
On one side, Republican candidate James Julius has objected to nominating papers for GOP primary competitor Rocco Cozza. Court documents show Julius is challenging 106 out of Cozza’s 357 signatures. Some of Cozza’s signers previously signed Julius’ own petitions, the complaint alleges. Others may not be registered Republican voters or live within the House district, the documents say.
“My review of the petition materials identified signature lines that I believe do not meet Pennsylvania’s legal requirements for ballot access,” Julius told WESA.
A spokesman for Cozza’s campaign declined to comment.
On the other side of the ticket, four Democratic candidates are competing: Brittany Bloam, Pat Catena, Fred Coleman, and Cameron Grosh. But district resident Bronwyn Ritchey alleges the nominating papers for Grosh have nearly 60 flawed signatures out of the required 300 for a state House race.
When reached Tuesday afternoon by WESA, Grosh said he was still reviewing the challenge.
Pa. Senate District 46
In a southwestern Pennsylvania district, incumbent Camera Bartolotta has a Republican challenger for the May 19 primary. But three petitioners said the name of masonry business owner Al Buchtan should not be put before voters in the district, which includes all of Washington and Greene counties and parts of Beaver County.
Court documents show Dave Ball, Steve Bucar and Jeff Stewart have objected to Buchtan’s candidacy because he identifies two different addresses — one in Washington County and one in Greene County — in his filing papers. The challengers allege Buchtan rents one home and owns the other. Buchtan’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In an interview, Bartolotta, who was first elected in 2015, said constituents had raised the issue of Buchtan’s addresses.
When seeking elected office, she said, “You better have all of your ducks in a row, and it should be legitimate.”
Other districts:
Other challenges to candidates in the region include Democrat Todd E. Koger Sr., who’s competing against incumbent Democrat Abigail Salisbury in House District 34. There are also two challenges in the race for Senate District 32 against incumbent Republican Patrick Stefano: The nominating papers for Republican Harry Young Cochran and Democrat Jacob Cecil were both called into question.
And on Monday, the Republican challenger for state Rep. Arvind Venkat of McCandless had his residency questioned. It’s an allegation that cosmetic surgeon Ehab Akkary denies.