Suit seeks to take Democrat off ballot
Candidate’s residency questioned in race for Pennsylvania Senate
HARRISBURG — An already heated state Senate race in Pittsburgh’s northern suburbs intensified Monday with a legal effort to have the Democratic candidate removed from the ballot.
Two residents of state Senate District 38 — James Barr of West View, a Republican, and Nathaniel Locklin of Ross, a member of the Constitution Party — filed a lawsuit in Commonwealth Court, asking that Democrat Lindsey Williams be removed from the ballot. They argue that she does not meet the four-year residency requirement outlined in the state constitution — a notion that Ms. Williams and fellow Democrats dispute.
The suit comes at a time when the race between Ms. Williams and Republican candidate Jeremy Shaffer, a Ross commissioner, appears to be intensifying. They are
battling to replace Republican state Sen. Randy Vulakovich, who lost the GOP primary in May to the more conservative Mr. Shaffer.
State Republican Party chairman Val DiGiorgio said in a statement Monday that he believes Ms. Williams “fails the constitutionally required residency requirements and is ineligible to hold a seat in the Pennsylvania General Assembly at this time.
“Lindsey Williams running while ineligible to serve as a state legislator is, at best, demonstrating her ignorance of the Pa. Constitution and Pennsylvania law, at worst, it is lying to the voters of Pennsylvania about her eligibility to run [for] office,” Mr. DiGiorgio said.
The Williams campaign referred questions about the suit to Adam Bonin, an attorney representing the state Democratic Party. Mr. Bonin described the suit as “a stunt,” saying the window for filing such challenges had long passed.
“Voters shouldn’t be distracted,” Mr. Bonin said. “Lindsey Williams and Jeremy Shaffer will both be on the ballot in November. And voters should look at them on the merits, and there’s an obvious choice to make. It’s Lindsey.”
The Department of State interprets case law as saying that candidates must live in the state for four years prior to the general election date. That means the cut-off date for successfully running in this upcoming election is Nov. 6, 2014.
The following timeline is based on public records, a prior interview with Ms. Williams or materials provided by her campaign:
Ms. Williams said she attended Dickinson College and the Duquesne University School of Law, both in Pennsylvania.
She later lived in Maryland, registering to vote in Anne Arundel County in January 2014.
Ms. Williams said she received an employment offer from the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers on Oct. 28, 2014, and gave notice to her prior employer on Oct. 29, 2014.
The Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers dated a formal offer letter Oct. 30, 2014, and Ms. Williams signed it on Nov. 2, 2014. Ms. Williams said she “drove to Pennsylvania the weekend of Friday, Oct. 31, to Sunday, Nov. 2 to begin the process of moving back. I began moving my belongings and searching for apartments.”
Also on Nov. 2, 2014, a state trooper spotted Ms. Williams speeding in York County, Pa., and listed her address on a citation in Anne Arundel County, Md.
Ms. Williams voted in Anne Arundel County in the Nov. 4, 2014, election. County records indicate that she voted early but do not specify on which date; officials there say early voting occurs during an eight-day period. Ms. Williams told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette she voted in Maryland because it was too late to change her registration and, “I didn’t want to miss voting.”
On Nov. 10, 2014, Ms. Williams paid the fine associated with the speeding ticket. Court workers said they did not have any record of a change of address on file for her.
Records show that on Dec. 25, 2014, Ms. Williams registered to vote in Allegheny County. She said she switched her voter registration when she switched her driver’s license.
Residency issues in prior cases have considered a variety of factors, ranging from where someone registered to vote, where they got their driver’s license, addresses for their utility bills and the candidate’s stated intention, among other factors.
Mr. Barr and Mr. Locklin, who filed the lawsuit with support from the Republican Party, asked the court to remove Ms. Williams from the ballot, saying that if that doesn’t happen, “a fraud will be committed upon the electorate who unknowingly may vote for and elect a constitutionally infirmed candidate.”
They cited her voting record in Maryland, the address listed on her speeding ticket and her voter registration date in Pennsylvania.
Ms. Williams previously said she believes case law shows that having the intent to move to Pennsylvania and physical presence in the state support her argument that she meets the requirements.
“My intent happened in October when I gave notice to my former employer that I was quitting my job and taking a job with the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers,” she said.
Even before the lawsuit, the race was heating up — Republicans recently began an intensive effort to label Ms. Williams as a “socialist.” Ms. Williams did seek the endorsement of the Democratic Socialists of America in December 2017.
This past weekend, campaign signs that looked like hers — but weren’t authorized by her campaign — popped up around the North Hills and featured the word “Socialist” in large red and white letters beneath her name.
Mr. Shaffer’s campaign did not respond directly to a question about who was responsible for the signs, but the candidate said he “supports the efforts of the various groups trying to make her political positions known.”
“We are confused as to why she doesn’t embrace her membership and consider these signs a ‘positive message’ since she wanted the Socialist endorsement,” Mr. Shaffer said. “I will personally donate money to her campaign so she can make more of these signs herself.”
Though the Shaffer campaign pointed to a third party being responsible, a recent television advertisement authorized by the campaign showed a nearly identical image at the end — after claims that Ms. Williams would “tax your socks off” if elected. The signs indicate they’re paid for by the North Hills Republican Club.
While Ms. Williams’ Democratic allies rushed to call the campaign signs fraudulent and unethical, Ms. Williams urged her supporters to leave the signs alone in a post on Facebook — asking them to be “respectful of property, even (and especially) if our opponents are not showing that same respect.”
In a statement to the PostGazette, she blasted the signs as “another distraction” by Mr. Shaffer and his allies.
“Jeremy has repeatedly tried to distract voters from the very real issues facing this district, because he is wrong on the issues and wrong for the district,” Ms. Williams said, citing his stances on education and health care.
Wanda Murren, a spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Department of State, said state election law does not address the content of campaign signs but specifies that material must include the “paid for by” indicator. The sign does have that disclaimer, but critics say it should have been in larger font.
The signs underscore a line of attack from Republicans that has spanned to the highest level of politics: that Democrats have strayed too far left and want to “impose socialism” if they regain political power in November.
Republicans have pointed to a clip of Ms. Williams speaking at an endorsement meeting for the Democratic Socialists of America last year, in which she said she would be “honored to be seeking the DSA endorsement.” The DSA did not endorse her and chose to stay out of the Democratic primary at the time.
Asked about this, Ms. Williams said she identified herself as a “workers rights advocate” who would advocate for raising the minimum wage, invest in public schools and increase access to affordable health care.
A drive through the North Hills district on Monday found only one of the “Socialist” signs, tucked behind a real Lindsey Williams campaign sign. Rock Kernick, chair of the Hampton Township Democratic Committee, said most had been removed.
“I think it’s amazing,” Mr. Kernick said. “I actually feel really proud of my community for not allowing that filth on our streets.”