San Antonio Express-News

» Pennsylvan­ia’s lieutenant governor is wanting a share of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s $1 million reward.

- By Jeremy Wallace

Just hours after Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick offered up a $1 million reward for evidence of voter fraud in the Nov. 3 election, he got one of his first claims — but it’s not quite what he is seeking. Pennsylvan­ia Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, a Democrat, jumped on Patrick’s offer.

“I’d like to collect your handsome reward for reporting voter fraud,” Fetterman wrote on Twitter. “I got a dude in Forty Fort, PA who tried to have his dead mom vote for Trump.”

Fetterman was referring to a case in Luzernecou­nty fromseptem­ber in which a 67-year-old man was charged with forging the name of his deceased mother to get an applicatio­n for an absentee ballot. Themanchar­ged, Robert Richard Lynn, is a registered Republican. His next court appearance is set for Nov. 20.

Fetterman joked that Patrick could pay him the $1 million in Sheetz gift cards — a convenienc­e store and coffee shop chain based in Altoona, Pa.

But Fetterman has also been serious over the last week in pushing back against unfounded claims from President Donald Trump and his re-election campaign that there was fraud in Pennsylvan­ia during the election.

In an interview with National Public Radio, Fetterman said there’s just no proof of fraud in the state, aside from the Luzerne County case.

“You know, our election in Pennsylvan­ia went, you know, just incredibly well — no voter fraud, no voter intimidati­on, anything,” Fetterman said.

Still, Patrick, a Montgomery County Republican who chaired Trump’s Texas re-election campaign, has repeatedly declared there is voter fraud in mail balloting, while allowing that there have been few proven cases of it. Ontuesday, Patrick offered the $1 million reward, saying it only applies to tips that lead to the arrest

and conviction of someone who committed voter fraud.

“I support President Trump’s efforts to identify voter fraud in the presidenti­al election and his commitment to making sure that every legal vote is counted and every illegal vote is disqualifi­ed,” Patrick said in a statement on Tuesday. Patrick’s reward money would come from his campaign account, not from state government funds.

Fetterman is far from the only Democrat who was quick to troll Patrick for his reward offer.

California Congressma­n Ted Lieu mocked Patrick, offering a $1 million reward for evidence of various mystical creatures.

“Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick gave me an idea. I am offering $1 million to incentiviz­e, encourage and reward people to find Bigfoot,” Lieu wrote on Twitter.

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