The heat surrounding the candidacy of Jim Schneller in the bitterly contested 7th District Congressional race is being turned up.
The Delco GOP is now seeking a federal probe into ties between the third-party candidate and Democrat Bryan Lentz.
Delco GOP boss Andy Reilly fired off a letter to the Federal Election Commission for the probe, specifically to determine if any federal laws were broken by Lentz supporters in their efforts to get Schneller on the ballot.
It was just last week that Lentz, a two-term state representative, in a session with the Daily Times editorial board, admitted for the first time that he was aware that his backers were helping gather signatures to allow the arch-conservative Schneller to appear on the ballot. Critics of the move have dubbed the saga 'Schnellergate.'
The thinking is that Schneller would siphon votes from Republican candidate Pat Meehan, the former Delco D.A. and U.S. attorney.
Lentz indicated that no one went out and recruited Schneller, insisting he had already made the decision to run. The Democrat added that he did not consider the moves by his supporters “a mortal sin” and he insisted that no laws were broken.
Sounds like the local GOP is not so sure.
The two camps have been trading barbs over the issue ever since.
The Meehan campaign had previously launched an unsuccessful challenge to get Schneller removed from the ballot.
At issue now, according to Reilly’s letter, is who paid for the notary who signed off on the signatures on the petitions gathered for Schneller.
Lentz and Meehan are seeking to succeed U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak, who has his hands full these days running for the U.S. Senate against Republican Pat Toomey.
The Delco GOP is now seeking a federal probe into ties between the third-party candidate and Democrat Bryan Lentz.
Delco GOP boss Andy Reilly fired off a letter to the Federal Election Commission for the probe, specifically to determine if any federal laws were broken by Lentz supporters in their efforts to get Schneller on the ballot.
It was just last week that Lentz, a two-term state representative, in a session with the Daily Times editorial board, admitted for the first time that he was aware that his backers were helping gather signatures to allow the arch-conservative Schneller to appear on the ballot. Critics of the move have dubbed the saga 'Schnellergate.'
The thinking is that Schneller would siphon votes from Republican candidate Pat Meehan, the former Delco D.A. and U.S. attorney.
Lentz indicated that no one went out and recruited Schneller, insisting he had already made the decision to run. The Democrat added that he did not consider the moves by his supporters “a mortal sin” and he insisted that no laws were broken.
Sounds like the local GOP is not so sure.
The two camps have been trading barbs over the issue ever since.
The Meehan campaign had previously launched an unsuccessful challenge to get Schneller removed from the ballot.
At issue now, according to Reilly’s letter, is who paid for the notary who signed off on the signatures on the petitions gathered for Schneller.
Lentz and Meehan are seeking to succeed U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak, who has his hands full these days running for the U.S. Senate against Republican Pat Toomey.
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