Meehan on Tea Party Signatures

Republican Pat Meehan challenged the validity of tea party congressional candidate Jim Schneller’s candidacy on Monday, arguing that Democrats improperly helped him gather the signatures to put his name on the Pennsylvania ballot this fall as an independent.

In court documents, Meehan’s attorneys claimed that Schneller’s campaign “fraudulently induced” voters to sign his petitions by not disclosing the help he was getting from some Democrats.

“More than 4,800 signatures were gathered by Democratic Party leaders, Democratic activists and [Democratic nominee] Bryan Lentz campaign workers in a conspiracy to undermine the electoral process by propping up the sham candidacy of third party candidate” Schneller, the document states.

The challenge also raised objections to some signatures Meehan claims represent voters who are not registered in Pennsylvania’ 7th congressional district, some that were improperly notarized, and others that appear to be in identical handwriting.

“Fully 6,926 [signatures] are defective in at least one way, and often in multiple ways,” the Meehan campaign claimed.

In a telephone interview, Schneller said he was “mildly” surprised that the Republicans are challenging his candidacy.

“I believe they’ve taken a risk because of the number of signatures,” he said, noting that he collected nearly 8,000 signatures and he only needed 4,200 to get on the ballot.

Schneller said he wanted to review the legal challenge before commenting further on it.

The Pennsylvania contest is one of several where charges have been made that Democrats have helped tea party activists get on the ballot in hopes of splitting the conservative vote in the fall. Michigan and Florida are also states where Republicans are accusing Democrats of the tactic.

The charges are particularly explosive this year since the influence of third party or independent tea party candidates in close races could have a major impact in determining which party wins control of the House.

The Pennsylvania contest will determine who replaces Rep. Joe Sestak, a Democrat who is running for the Senate. The contest in the Philadelphia suburbs between Lentz and Meehan is considered a toss-up, which has elevated the importance of Schneller’s candidacy.

Meehan’s decision to try to push Schneller off the ballot does carry some risks. Already, it has put a spotlight on the little-known tea party activist and the Republican attacks on his candidacy could alienate some of the very conservative voters Meehan wants to attract in November.

In a statement, Meehan’s campaign spokesman Bryon Kendro tried to keep the focus on Lentz by not mentioning Schneller by name..

“Our campaign has exposed Lentz’s disturbing plan and will continue to combat Lentz and the Democrat operatives who were involved in the deception and misrepresentation of a sham candidacy,” Kendro said.

Lentz’s campaign manager, Kevin McTigue, said he hoped voters “ will take note of the ongoing fight between Pat Meehan and Jim Schneller for the mantle of the Tea Party and its far-right agenda. In the meantime, Bryan Lentz will continue to focus on job creation and economic development in the 7th District.”

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