Lentz supporter: Forging her signature was ‘appalling’

A supporter of Democrat Bryan Lentz said Thursday that she was outraged when she learned her signature had been forged on a nominating petition for Republican Pat Meehan, calling it “disgraceful.”

“Part of what’s appalling to me and that I find disgraceful is I happen to be a neighbor of Patrick Meehan,” Terry Bradley said. “We go to the same church, I see his family when I’m with my family. I don’t know who did this. But it’s appaling to me that someone, in furtherance of Patrick Meehan’s cause, helped themselves to my identity.”

March 19, 2010 at 3:00 am | Comments (0)

Meehan’s motion to dismiss ballot challenge is quickly made moot

Former U.S. Attorney Pat Meehan on Thursday sought the dismissal of a petition seeking to remove him from the GOP primary ballot for Congress—but his motion was almost immediately made moot by an order from the state court hearing the ballot challenge.

A lawyer for Meehan filed a motion for dismissal on the grounds that Meehan had not yet been personally served with full story

March 18, 2010 at 7:22 pm | Comments (10)

Ballot challenge, spearheaded by Lentz, alleges widespread fraud in Meehan’s petitions

The nominating petitions that Republican Pat Meehan’s congressional campaign submitted to get on the May primary ballot are so rife with invalid signatures and outright fraud as to warrant keeping the former U.S. Attorney off the ballot, according to a complaint filed in Commonwealth Court.

The 15-page complaint, filed by Republican supporters of Meehan’s likely Democratic opponent Bryan Lentz, details a litany of problems with the more than 3,600 signatures collected by Meehan’s campaign, as…

March 17, 2010 at 11:11 pm | Comments (21)

Stensland still might run as an independent

The deadline for filing petitions to get on the primary ballot passed last week, and former Fox29 news anchor Dawn Stensland stayed out of the picture, taking off the table any possible GOP primary run in the 7th Congressional District.

But that doesn’t mean she’s out of the picture completely.

Stensland is more interested in serving in Congress than ever, and is seriously considering a run as an independent, according to…

March 17, 2010 at 9:00 pm | Comments (16)

LEFTOVERS: ‘Fumocrats’ for Meehan, Payton backs Onorato, Pike still wants a pledge

A few things slipped by us toward the end of the week.

Apparently former U.S. Attorney Pat Meehan is getting some help from friends and allies of the man he helped put in prison, the convicted Vince Fumo. The Philadelphia Daily News reports on a few “Fumocrats” who have given to Meehan’s 7th District congressional campaign, including former Philly mayoral candidate Martin Weinberg and former City Controller Thomas Leonard.

Meehan’s allies…

March 14, 2010 at 2:35 pm | Comments (3)

Meehan asks D.A. to investigate his ballot petitions (Updated)

Former U.S. Attorney and GOP congressional hopeful Pat Meehan has asked the local District Attorney in Delaware County to investigate some of the ballot petitions he filed this week, acknowledging that at least four sets of signatures gathered by one local Republican “are questionable and have the potential to not be legitimate.”

The request came in a letter that Meehan’s campaign said it was hand-delivering to county District Attorney Mike Green Thursday morning. The campaign…

March 11, 2010 at 10:19 am | Comments (24)

Callahan, Lentz on first ‘Red to Blue’ list

Bethlehem Mayor John Callahan and state Representative Bryan Lentz (D-Delaware) are reportedly among the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s first round of “Red to Blue” candidates, a list highlighting the party’s highest-priority House challengers and open-seat candidates in the country.

Callahan, a White House recruit, is challenging Congressman Charlie Dent (R-15) in the Lehigh Valley. Lentz is seeking to hold the seat being vacated by Democrat Joe Sestak, and is the Democrats’ presumptive nominee to take…

March 10, 2010 at 9:28 am | Comments (17)

Meehan hits Lentz on missed hearings

Republican Pat Meehan this week criticized state Representative Bryan Lentz (D-Delaware) over Appropriations Committee hearings Lentz missed last month, continuing what is quickly becoming a heated congressional contest between the two even before the general election officially starts.

Meehan’s campaign noted that Lentz missed three committee hearings on Feb. 24, after missing one the day before. On Feb. 24, Lentz was in Washington for a candidate training session run by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.…

March 9, 2010 at 11:26 pm | Comments (11)

Meehan’s early fundraising haul was fueled by governor’s race

After former U.S. Attorney Pat Meehan jumped from the race for governor to a congressional bid last fall, his nascent House campaign trumpeted a fundraising haul of more than $200,000 in just 16 September days. Though his campaign never explicitly said so, the subtle implication was that early money raised had come from scratch, a “groundswell” of support for his new race.

But recently-published records make clear…

March 4, 2010 at 5:20 pm | Comments (6)

Lentz uses Hannity to raise cash, NRCC hits comments on health care (Updated)

Democrat Bryan Lentz’s 7th District congressional campaign was talking about Fox News host Sean Hannity in an effort to pump up the fundraising on Tuesday. Noting that Hannity will be headlining a major National Republican Congressional Committee fundraiser next month, campaign manager Vincent Rongione wrote to supporters that “our likely Republican opponent was hand-picked by these Washington insiders and will no doubt benefit greatly from this fundraising event.”

He went on to highlight comments by…

February 9, 2010 at 3:18 pm | Comments (17)