This morning I am going to give you a sneak peek at the single issue that is likely to dominate the race between Bryan Lentz and Pat Meehan for the 7th District Congressional seat.
It’s not jobs. Or taxes. Or health care. Or education.
It’s petitions.
Simply put, Meehan’s petitions are a mess. And now the Republican, a former Delaware County district attorney and U.S. attorney for eastern Pennsylvania, is fending off allegations of massive fraud in the signatures that got him on the ballot.
And the Democrat Lentz plans to take full advantage of that fact. Today he will hold a press conference outside the place where Meehan once worked – the U.S. Courthouse in downtown Philly – asking for a federal probe into what his campaign sees as rampant problems with Meehan’s nominating petitions.
Of course, all of this kind of assumes that Lentz is going to be the Democratic standard bearer in the race to succeed Joe Sestak, who is giving up the seat he wrested from Curt Weldon to challenge Sen. Arlen Specter. I think you can pretty much count on that, even before Lentz decided to challenge the petitions of his Democratic foes as well.
This kind of petition tussle is part and parcel of politics, especially here in Delaware County.
What makes this case unique is that it turns the tables on the Delco GOP. They’re usually the ones pointing out the foibles of Delco Dems, and getting their candidates booted off the ballot.
Now the shoe is on the other foot.
Then there is the image of Meehan as a squeaky clean prosecutor. That’s about to be smeared as Lentz looks to blow the lid off Meehan’s petition issues.
He makes a pretty compelling case. It’s one he will make again in a pre-trial conference on Monday. A full hearing on the petition allegations is set for April 14.
But this is more than just a petition challenge for Lentz. He sees it as representative of the way the Delco GOP has gone about its business for years.
Only this time they got caught.
Meehan actually blew the whistle on himself, asking his successor Mike Green to review his petitions when some of the problems came to light.
The Lentz campaign delights in pointing out the Republican only did that because they knew the Dems were on to the issue and wanted to get out in front of it.
Green has since passed the issue on to state Attorney General Tom Corbett.
The Lentz folks have problems with either Green or Corbett handling the matter. I suppose that’s why they will seek the federal probe today.
I have trouble getting terribly worked up over these kinds of petition flaps.
Except for one thing: After you get done listening to Lentz lay out his case, it’s hard to believe the GOP could be this sloppy.
And that’s part of Lentz’s point. He sees a county – and a party – that have pretty much done whatever they want for decades.
Not anymore.
Lentz plans to scream often and loud about what he flatly alleges as “widespread fraud” in the Meehan petitions.
The Meehan camp says they “scoured” their petitions when the issue first came to their attention and found four problem signatures. Lentz says there is a lot more involved, in both signatures, who circulated the petitions and who signed for them.
You might be surprised by some of the names that pop up among those Lentz is questioning. It reads like a who’s who among the Delco GOP.
I don’t expect Lentz to be successful in his attempt to get Meehan kicked off the ballot. Meehan gathered 3,623 names on his petitions.
Lentz claims that when you get done looking at all the potential problem signatures, it’s quite possible the GOP candidate would be under the required 1,000 signatures to be on the ballot. I wouldn’t bet on it.
I expect the Meehan folks to circle the wagons.
For now the whole thing will move into court, and the lawyers will have a field day.
But don’t expect this to go away, regardless of what happens in court.
You will be hearing about this right up until you enter the voting booth in November.
Lentz vs. Meehan. I always thought it would be an intriguing election.
It’s going to make a fascinating court case as well.
It’s not jobs. Or taxes. Or health care. Or education.
It’s petitions.
Simply put, Meehan’s petitions are a mess. And now the Republican, a former Delaware County district attorney and U.S. attorney for eastern Pennsylvania, is fending off allegations of massive fraud in the signatures that got him on the ballot.
And the Democrat Lentz plans to take full advantage of that fact. Today he will hold a press conference outside the place where Meehan once worked – the U.S. Courthouse in downtown Philly – asking for a federal probe into what his campaign sees as rampant problems with Meehan’s nominating petitions.
Of course, all of this kind of assumes that Lentz is going to be the Democratic standard bearer in the race to succeed Joe Sestak, who is giving up the seat he wrested from Curt Weldon to challenge Sen. Arlen Specter. I think you can pretty much count on that, even before Lentz decided to challenge the petitions of his Democratic foes as well.
This kind of petition tussle is part and parcel of politics, especially here in Delaware County.
What makes this case unique is that it turns the tables on the Delco GOP. They’re usually the ones pointing out the foibles of Delco Dems, and getting their candidates booted off the ballot.
Now the shoe is on the other foot.
Then there is the image of Meehan as a squeaky clean prosecutor. That’s about to be smeared as Lentz looks to blow the lid off Meehan’s petition issues.
He makes a pretty compelling case. It’s one he will make again in a pre-trial conference on Monday. A full hearing on the petition allegations is set for April 14.
But this is more than just a petition challenge for Lentz. He sees it as representative of the way the Delco GOP has gone about its business for years.
Only this time they got caught.
Meehan actually blew the whistle on himself, asking his successor Mike Green to review his petitions when some of the problems came to light.
The Lentz campaign delights in pointing out the Republican only did that because they knew the Dems were on to the issue and wanted to get out in front of it.
Green has since passed the issue on to state Attorney General Tom Corbett.
The Lentz folks have problems with either Green or Corbett handling the matter. I suppose that’s why they will seek the federal probe today.
I have trouble getting terribly worked up over these kinds of petition flaps.
Except for one thing: After you get done listening to Lentz lay out his case, it’s hard to believe the GOP could be this sloppy.
And that’s part of Lentz’s point. He sees a county – and a party – that have pretty much done whatever they want for decades.
Not anymore.
Lentz plans to scream often and loud about what he flatly alleges as “widespread fraud” in the Meehan petitions.
The Meehan camp says they “scoured” their petitions when the issue first came to their attention and found four problem signatures. Lentz says there is a lot more involved, in both signatures, who circulated the petitions and who signed for them.
You might be surprised by some of the names that pop up among those Lentz is questioning. It reads like a who’s who among the Delco GOP.
I don’t expect Lentz to be successful in his attempt to get Meehan kicked off the ballot. Meehan gathered 3,623 names on his petitions.
Lentz claims that when you get done looking at all the potential problem signatures, it’s quite possible the GOP candidate would be under the required 1,000 signatures to be on the ballot. I wouldn’t bet on it.
I expect the Meehan folks to circle the wagons.
For now the whole thing will move into court, and the lawyers will have a field day.
But don’t expect this to go away, regardless of what happens in court.
You will be hearing about this right up until you enter the voting booth in November.
Lentz vs. Meehan. I always thought it would be an intriguing election.
It’s going to make a fascinating court case as well.
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