The Lackawanna County Democratic Committee recently sent 76 elected committee members letters advising them they’re ineligible to serve because they supported independent candidates in recent special or general elections, outgoing committee Chairman Chris Patrick confirmed.

It prompted a swift reaction from a group calling themselves the Lackawanna United Democrats, which vowed legal action against the county Democratic Committee and Patrick, including filing a formal ethics complaint to the Pennsylvania Democratic Party and state Democratic Chairman Eugene DePasquale. The group includes committee members being removed from their elected positions.

“The Lackawanna United Democrats contend that the removals are unlawful, violate the rights of duly elected committee members, and represent an attempt by entrenched party leadership to maintain control despite the outcome of the committee elections,” the group said in a press release.

The letters signed by Patrick cite a rule in the committee’s bylaws that disqualifies anyone who financially or otherwise supported “a candidate … opposed to the duly nominated candidate of the Democratic Party” from serving as a committee member or officer. It comes after several longtime Democrats ran unsuccessfully against official party nominees as independent candidates last year, when a factional civil war among local Democrats erupted over the process of filling former Democratic Commissioner Matt McGloin’s vacant seat.

While some positions are currently vacant, there are 326 seats on the county Democratic Committee, with 163 reserved for men and 163 reserved for women. The 76 members apparently disqualified for supporting independents make up more than 23% of the total.

Democrats who switched to run as independent or otherwise unaffiliated candidates last year include: Michael Cappelli, in the special election to fill McGloin’s unexpired term; Colleen Eagen Gerrity, in a special election to fill former Lackawanna County Clerk of Judicial Records Mauri Kelly’s unexpired term; incumbent Scranton City Councilman Gerald Smurl, in the general election for city council; and Gene Barrett, in the general election for Scranton mayor. All four lost.

“Pursuant to the bylaws of the Lackawanna County Democratic Committee, committee members are expected to support the Democratic Party’s endorsed candidates and nominees,” Patrick said in a written statement noting the committee is committed to supporting and electing Democrats at every level. “After reviewing petition filings and campaign finance reports, the Committee has determined that certain members signed nomination petitions for independent candidates running in opposition to Democratic candidates.”

“While we respect every individual’s right to support the candidate of their choosing, membership on the Democratic Committee carries specific obligations and responsibilities under our bylaws,” the statement continues. “As a result, committee members who have violated these provisions will be subject to removal proceedings in accordance with the Committee’s governing rules.”

Patrick’s statement says the pending action isn’t personal.

“It is about maintaining the integrity of the Democratic Party and ensuring that those entrusted with representing the Committee remain committed to advancing Democratic candidates and Democratic values,” the statement concludes. “The rules must apply equally to everyone. Party leadership and committee members alike are expected to follow the bylaws they agreed to uphold.”

In an interview and subsequent text message, Patrick said the 76 members in question are removed but no action will be taken to replace them before the committee reorganizes July 7. Patrick, who is not seeking reelection as chairman during the reorganization, said the 76 won’t be allowed at that meeting.

William “Trip” O’Malley, an elected committeeman representing Dunmore’s Ward 1 Precinct 2, said he was “shocked and upset” when he received a letter Wednesday stating he’s ineligible to serve. O’Malley, who signed Colleen Eagen Gerrity’s nomination papers to run against Democratic nominee and eventual victor Lauren Bieber Mailen in last year’s clerk of judicial records special election, was reelected to his committee position during the May primary.

He plans to fight to keep it.

“I mean my neighbors trust me and they voted for me for this position,” O’Malley said. “They helped get me on the ballot and they voted for me, and now, what, Chris Patrick is going to make their vote ineligible?”

Lexie Kelly, an elected committeewoman for Newton Twp., where her husband Tim Kelly is or at least was an elected committeeman, had not received a letter notifying her of her ineligibility as of Wednesday. But she expects both she and her husband will.

“This is bigger than a disagreement over party politics,” Lexie Kelly said in the Lackawanna United Democrats press release. “This is about whether the votes of Democrats in Lackawanna County matter. Hundreds of Democrats worked tirelessly to elect new committee members because they wanted transparency, accountability, and a stronger party. Instead of respecting those results, the old guard is attempting to overturn them through procedural maneuvering and intimidation.”

The organization plans to “pursue every available legal and administrative avenue to protect the rights of elected committee members,” Kelly said in the release. She had recently put herself forward as a candidate for committee chairperson.

“We are prepared to fight this all the way to Harrisburg and beyond,” she said. “The people affected by these actions should remain strong and know they are not alone. We fought too hard to clean up our party, open the doors to new voices, and restore trust in the Democratic process only to be confronted with what many view as the same unethical and un-American tactics that have frustrated Democrats in this county for years. We will not be intimidated, and we will not back down.”

Patrick, meanwhile, said he’s enforcing the committee’s longstanding rules that were known to members when they chose to support candidates other than the Democratic nominees.

“We are a country of laws,” he said. “Our bylaws are our law.”