Mar 22, 2023 5 min read

Three Republicans running for countywide office – including two named Kevin who mistakenly received each other’s scheduling document from the attorney contesting their nominations – will remain on the primary ballot after challenges to their candidacies were either dismissed or withdrawn Tuesday.

Ashley Duff and Kevin Redford will be able to run for county commissioner in the Republican primary on May 16, while Kevin Hill will be on the ballot in his bid for prothonotary despite legal challenges from electors within their own party.

The problem with the three separate challenges centered around whether the candidates were personally served the proper petitions and scheduling orders with the time for their hearings Tuesday before Washington County Court of Common Pleas Judge Michael Lucas.

Duff’s attorney, Dennis Makel, successfully argued that the challenger’s attorney, James Walsh, never had the order “personally served” to his client, meaning the hearing could not go through since the proper process was not followed in accordance with Senior Judge Katherine Emery’s scheduling order requiring it to be delivered to the candidate or attorney.

“We don’t even know what this case is about,” said Makel, who told Lucas he only began reviewing the petition challenging Duff’s nomination shortly before the hearing.

The challenge by Sandra Schiffauer of Nottingham Township centered on Duff’s claim in her nominating petitions that she was a “home economist,” which Walsh argued in court documents was not true before she did not have a paying job. Walsh said they were unable to personally give Duff the order because she did not answer the door when they made attempts at her Fallowfield Township house. He added that Duff clearly knew about the petition because she was quoted in a March 16 article in the Observer-Reporter about it and showed up promptly at the courthouse with an attorney for her 10 a.m. hearing.

But without the petition being personally given to Duff, Lucas dismissed the challenge, saying he did not have jurisdiction in the matter because it did not meet the statutory criteria of Emery’s order.

The challenge against Redford was withdrawn before his Tuesday afternoon hearing, allowing for his name to be placed on the ballot. Schiffauer had challenged Redford’s candidacy, claiming in a filing by attorney Sean Logue that he did not have enough valid signatures to run for county commissioner.

But more problematic was the paperwork mix-up with the two Kevins, since Redford received Hill’s scheduling order from Logue’s law clerk, while the order for Redford was accidentally delivered to Hill’s home in Mt. Pleasant Township.

The mistake proved fatal for Logue’s challenge on behalf of Prothonotary Laura Hough against Hill, who is running against her in the Republican primary. While the challenge mainly centered around whether Hill was truly “self-employed,” as he wrote in his nominating petition he circulated to get on the ballot, Lucas focused on the fact that Logue’s law clerk apparently gave the candidate the wrong scheduling order. Since it was also delivered to Hill’s mother but legal documents erroneously claim it was given to the candidate himself, Lucas said the “service process to Hill doesn’t square” and he denied the petition to remove him from the ballot.

Logue, who also serves as chairman of the Washington County Republican Party, argued that Emery’s order was too specific and could not necessarily be followed if a candidate dodged the person delivering the petition or if he or she decided to leave town during the challenge process when the scheduling order would be served.

“It’s a brand-new scheme,” Logue said of Emery’s order that he claimed left no room for interpretation.

He added that Emery’s order was problematic since she was not on the bench for the hearings to allow the challengers to argue whether the “personal service” requirement was feasible. Emery was supposed to preside over the challenge hearings Tuesday, but Lucas said she was “unavailable,” leading him to oversee the process. Lucas said since he did not write the order, he would not be able to make changes to it and did not want to make his own interpretation of Emery’s requirements.

“These matters had to be heard expeditiously, and it fell onto me to hear it,” Lucas said.

It was not known why the challenge against Redford was withdrawn, but he confirmed during a brief phone interview Tuesday afternoon that he received Hill’s scheduling order by mistake. Redford was surprised to learn that the mix-up led to the dismissal of the challenge against Hill and likely would have meant the same for his hearing if it went through as scheduled.

Earlier in the day, Lucas dismissed the challenge against Steven Toprani’s nomination in the Democratic primary for Ringgold School Board because the petitioner is a registered Republican. Toprani will now appear on the ballot as a cross-filed candidate for the school board.

Lucas upheld a challenge against the candidacy of David Carlise, who was running for Hopewell Township supervisor, because Carlise did not file the proper ethics and financial interest statements with the township as required.

More hearings are scheduled for today for three candidates running for Donora Borough Council.

Republican candidate Casey Perrotta and Democratic candidates James Brice and Deanne Vayansky Pavelko are being challenged over claims they did not file their financial interest statements with the borough. Perrotta also is being challenged by petitioners who claim he should not be permitted to hold public office because he was accused of forging documents related to psychological examinations while working as a Greene Regional police officer. Perrotta pleaded guilty in Greene County to two misdemeanor counts of tampering with public records and was sentenced in April 2021 to serve two years on probation and perform 60 hours of community service.