Candidacy in jeopardy
Washington City Councilman Joseph Manning’s bid for a second term could be in jeopardy after more than a dozen signatures on his nominating petitions were challenged, putting him extremely close to being booted from the Democratic primary ballot.
Fourteen voter signatures were questioned by attorney James Walsh, who is representing city resident Bernard Russell in the challenge, during the Wednesday hearing before Washington County Court Judge Gary Gilman.
Manning needs 100 valid voter signatures to get on the May 21 primary ballot, and he had a total of 110 on his petitions, so the challenge would need to disqualify just 11 to keep him off. Walsh pinpointed nine names that had either the wrong party listing or live outside Washington. Another five had other technical problems that will be judged by Gilman.
Gilman said he will announce his decision Friday, which would leave Manning with very little time to assemble a write-in campaign if he’s removed from the ballot. After the hearing, Manning said he was “absolutely” confident of his re-election prospects regardless of the decision.
“There’s no doubt I will be on the ballot in November,” Manning said.
The two-hour proceeding became feisty at times as Manning’s lawyer, Colin Fitch, questioned the motives behind Russell’s challenge and whether Republican operatives were behind it. Fitch pointed out that it has been years since Russell voted in an election and questioned what prompted his interest in Manning’s petition.
“We have evidence to show that Mr. Russell doesn’t vote,” Fitch said. “Who put him up to this?”
Fitch wanted to question Russell about the challenge, but he was not in attendance for the Wednesday hearing.
Walsh noted that Russell’s motives or “underlying intentions” didn’t matter, and that he meets the legal criteria required to challenge the petition of being a member of the Democratic party living in the city.
“It doesn’t matter if he’s a strawman, and I’m not saying he is, but it doesn’t matter what his intentions are,” Walsh said.
Confusion over the petition’s page numbers forced the court to take a one-hour recess while both sides went to the county’s election office to review the voter rolls. Washington County Elections Director Larry Spahr then testified about the validity of each voter being challenged on the petition.
Fitch later took the opportunity to question an “individual” sitting at counsel’s table next to Walsh. That brought a testy exchange between Walsh and Fitch on the need for him to testify, although Gilman ultimately allowed the questioning.
The man, who apparently helped research the signatures and names on the petition, identified himself as Mike Ward who grew up in Westmoreland County and now lives in Pittsburgh. Fitch asked if he was related to state Sen. Kim Ward, R-Greensburg, but Gilman shut down the questioning before he could answer.
Manning was the only Democrat to file for City Council on a ballot where two are to be nominated. Republicans who filed are Tracie Rotunda Graham and incumbent Matt Staniszewski, who also is running a write-in campaign on the Democratic side.