A Lackawanna County judge amended an injunction to allow the Pennsylvania Democratic Party to facilitate the planned reorganization of the Lackawanna County Democratic Committee with all elected committee members participating.
It’s the latest development in a civil case brought by 13 of 76 elected members of the county committee recently targeted for removal under the leadership of outgoing Chairman Chris Patrick. It comes after the state party’s executive committee voted Monday to intervene in the dispute and facilitate the pending reorganization where all members, including the 76, will elect the committee’s next officers.
The state party’s intervention seems to have effectively resolved the dispute over the stymied effort to remove members for alleged bylaws violations. Patrick has defended the attempted ousters, arguing the members in question violated county party rules for supporting independent candidates in elections last year, but isn’t fighting the state’s move to intervene.
A number of longtime Democrats ran as independent candidates against official party nominees last year, when a factional civil war among local Democrats erupted over and amid the process of replacing former Democratic Commissioner Matt McGloin.
In the case brought by the 13 members, county Judge Terrence R. Nealon granted a preliminary injunction Monday that, in part, blocked the county committee from reorganizing. In light of the state party’s action in the intervening time, the plaintiffs filed Thursday a motion asking the court to amend the injunction and allow a reorganization to take place.
Their filing says the state party tentatively scheduled the reorganization for July 14, noting county committee bylaws require 10-day notice be given prior to the reorganization meeting.
Nealon issued an order later Thursday amending the injunction to “permit the Pennsylvania State Democratic Committee to facilitate the reorganization.” He did so with the concurrence of fellow county Judges Mary Walsh Dempsey and Mark Powell, the other two jurists on a three-judge panel handling the civil matter.
The Thursday order also postpones a court hearing in the matter that had been scheduled for July 9, “pending the holding of the reorganization meeting as set forth above.”
The three judges also issued a separate order Thursday giving the 13 plaintiffs until Tuesday to show cause as to why their civil case shouldn’t be dismissed as moot, given the state party’s intervention and commitment to oversee the reorganization.
Patrick is not seeking reelection as county party chair. Newton Twp. committeewoman Lexie Kelly, president of the Abington Democrats and a candidate for chair in the coming reorganization, is generally regarded as the preferred candidate of the members Patrick tried to remove.
She was among the 76 targeted for removal, as was her husband, attorney and Newton Twp. committeeman Tim Kelly, who filed the injunction suit on behalf of the 13 plaintiffs.