It took a lot longer than anyone probably expected, but charges have finally come down in the great Delco petition wars.
More than two months after the election, longtime Republican operative Paul Summers has been charged with forging signatures on petitions he circulated for now-Congressman Pat Meehan.
Considering the fact that a lot of people thought this case, which got kicked up to the state attorney general’s office after Meehan came forward and asked Delco D.A. Mike Green to review his petition problems, was going to be buried and never heard from again, you would think that would satisfy most folks.
Yeah, right.
Nobody is happy. Which means things are just about normal here in Delco.
Democratic leaders are wondering about the thoroughness of the investigation, and the fact that Summers faces only seven charges when most people believe the problem was a lot more widespread than that.
There also are questions about who was questioned during the investigation, and why some people were not. Others are wondering whether Summers did similar creative work on petitions for other candidates.
What they got were seven counts of forgery.
Democratic leaders vented that they believe the problem is systemic, and took the occasion to trash the GOP here in Delaware County. Not much new there.
Of course new GOP boss Andy Reilly did not take especially well to that, and he returned fire.
Reilly pointed out that it was Meehan himself who went to the D.A. with the petition problems. Meehan also paid me a visit here in the newspaper office the very morning the story broke to alert us to the petition problems as well. It was pretty smart of Meehan to get out in front of this case, especially in light of the fact that he likely knew the Democrats were already all over it.
Still, Meehan gets credit for not dodging the issue. And now the A.G.’s office basically has laid the problem at Summers’ feet. They concluded he simply did not get as many signatures as he needed, and proceeded to fill in more names himself.
Reilly took great umbrage at the Dems' claims, pointing out it was Meehan who blew the whistle on himself and that the A.G. has said Summers was acting alone.
And he also took the opportunity to remind Democrats they should not necessarily be the ones casting stones when it comes to petition problems, in light of the fact that Meehan’s opponent, Bryan Lentz, admitted he knew that his campaign supporters were helping third-party candidate Jim Schneller gather enough signatures to get on the ballot.
The idea is pretty simple. Most believed the conservative Schneller would siphon votes away from the Republican Meehan. Didn’t exactly work out that way.
It blew up in Lentz’s face when he admitted during a live-streamed session with the Daily Times editorial board that he was aware what his people were up to and didn’t necessarily have a problem with it.
That little admission created national headlines.
But it does not change one thing: The problems with Meehan’s petitions have now resulted in charges being filed. No such charges are expected in the case of the Lentz backers.
Think what you want of the ethics of what they did, it does not appear to be a criminal matter.
Republican Pat Meehan is the new congressman in the 7th District. Paul Summers faces charges.
Democrats are complaining. Republicans are responding.
Yep, things are pretty much back to normal here in Delco.
More than two months after the election, longtime Republican operative Paul Summers has been charged with forging signatures on petitions he circulated for now-Congressman Pat Meehan.
Considering the fact that a lot of people thought this case, which got kicked up to the state attorney general’s office after Meehan came forward and asked Delco D.A. Mike Green to review his petition problems, was going to be buried and never heard from again, you would think that would satisfy most folks.
Yeah, right.
Nobody is happy. Which means things are just about normal here in Delco.
Democratic leaders are wondering about the thoroughness of the investigation, and the fact that Summers faces only seven charges when most people believe the problem was a lot more widespread than that.
There also are questions about who was questioned during the investigation, and why some people were not. Others are wondering whether Summers did similar creative work on petitions for other candidates.
What they got were seven counts of forgery.
Democratic leaders vented that they believe the problem is systemic, and took the occasion to trash the GOP here in Delaware County. Not much new there.
Of course new GOP boss Andy Reilly did not take especially well to that, and he returned fire.
Reilly pointed out that it was Meehan himself who went to the D.A. with the petition problems. Meehan also paid me a visit here in the newspaper office the very morning the story broke to alert us to the petition problems as well. It was pretty smart of Meehan to get out in front of this case, especially in light of the fact that he likely knew the Democrats were already all over it.
Still, Meehan gets credit for not dodging the issue. And now the A.G.’s office basically has laid the problem at Summers’ feet. They concluded he simply did not get as many signatures as he needed, and proceeded to fill in more names himself.
Reilly took great umbrage at the Dems' claims, pointing out it was Meehan who blew the whistle on himself and that the A.G. has said Summers was acting alone.
And he also took the opportunity to remind Democrats they should not necessarily be the ones casting stones when it comes to petition problems, in light of the fact that Meehan’s opponent, Bryan Lentz, admitted he knew that his campaign supporters were helping third-party candidate Jim Schneller gather enough signatures to get on the ballot.
The idea is pretty simple. Most believed the conservative Schneller would siphon votes away from the Republican Meehan. Didn’t exactly work out that way.
It blew up in Lentz’s face when he admitted during a live-streamed session with the Daily Times editorial board that he was aware what his people were up to and didn’t necessarily have a problem with it.
That little admission created national headlines.
But it does not change one thing: The problems with Meehan’s petitions have now resulted in charges being filed. No such charges are expected in the case of the Lentz backers.
Think what you want of the ethics of what they did, it does not appear to be a criminal matter.
Republican Pat Meehan is the new congressman in the 7th District. Paul Summers faces charges.
Democrats are complaining. Republicans are responding.
Yep, things are pretty much back to normal here in Delco.
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