The Herald, Sharon, Pa.

Local News

August 13, 2008

Locals challenge Porter signatures

By Matt Snyder

MERCER COUNTY — Three Mercer Countians with ties to the Democratic Party and 3rd District Congressional candidate Kathy Dahlkemper are challenging independent candidate Dr. Steven Porter’s nominating papers.

Dominic Vadala of Hermitage, Alice Bell of Sharon, and former Farrell councilman Anthony DeMartinis are challenging about 2,000 of the 3,000 signatures Porter’s campaign gathered to get him on the November ballot, said Shawn Gallagher, a Pittsburgh attorney who represents the challengers.

Porter needed 2,171 valid signatures to get on the ballot. He acknowledged Wednesday filling in some information that could invalidate signatures but said none were forged.

Porter ran and lost twice before in the 3rd District as a Democrat, trying to beat incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Phil English in 2004 and 2006.

Porter, who complained about a lack of party support in his last bid for the seat, decided to run as an independent this year and Mrs. Dahlkemper won the Democratic nomination in a four-way primary race.

The challenges to Porter’s signatures run from cut-and-dry to complex. In some cases, Gallagher said a signer was not registered to vote.

In others, similarities in handwriting from one signer to the next suggests someone handling the nomination papers helped people fill in information like addresses, he said.

Porter said he handled almost all of the papers himself, and may have assisted people who asked him for help.

“Occasionally, I would fill something out if a person couldn’t write, or if their hands were wet, or their hands were busy, and they’d just say, ‘would you just put in the address,’” Porter said.

He said he “never, never” forged a signature or signed someone’s name for them.

Gallagher said a petition signer must fill in all information, including addresses, by themselves to be considered valid.

“To say because of a technicality that if a part of that line was put in by another hand, that they don’t have the right to nominate someone, is really a blow to justice and representation in this democracy,” Porter said.

He said dropping signatures off the petition for technicalities will also disenfranchise voters who did everything right and want to see him on the ballot.

One of the petition challengers, DeMartinis, is in charge of Mrs. Dahlkemper’s Mercer County campaign, said the county’s Democratic Chairman Robert Lark.

Mrs. Dahlkemper’s campaign manager, Tina Mengine, has said they were aware DeMartinis and the others wanted to challenge Porter’s signatures.

“We did not organize it or move it forward. I know that they were talking about it and they felt strongly about it. So, you know, we let them go. They did it on their own,” Ms. Mengine said.

“Our position is that it’s more about whether or not Porter filed properly, and if so, then I think that it’s fine, he deserves to be on the ballot,” Ms. Mengine said. If his signatures have problems, she said a challenge is in order.

A Commonwealth Court judge will hear the challenge at 9:30 a.m. Aug. 21 in Pittsburgh, said Gallagher.

Vadala is president of Mercer County Central Labor Council, an umbrella organization for the county’s unions. Mrs. Bell is the wife of the late former Mercer County Commissioner Harold Bell, a Democrat.

Text Only
Local News
  • Labor Dept.: Franchise’s workers not paid properly

    The owners of the Brookfield Subway restaurant have been paying their employees less than minimum wage, shorting them on overtime pay and violating child labor laws for two years, a federal lawsuit alleges.

    February 7, 2012

  • Insecurity: Firm loses more local clients

    Reynolds Area School District is scrambling to find people to work security at upcoming games after finding out the Pittsburgh-area security firm they were using had some guards who were convicted felons or sex offenders.
    “That was a shock, believe me,” said school board President John Lowry.

    February 7, 2012

  • School budget predictions improve

    The upshot to planning for a worst-case scenario is it makes any change an improvement.
    Such is the case with Farrell Area School District’s finances, business manager William Dungee told school board members Monday.

    February 7, 2012

  • Chief gripe: Cramped quarters

    In Sharpsville, the long arm of the law needs room to stretch out.
    Police Chief Keith Falasco told council members Monday night that his department’s current space “is at the least inadequate,” and after off-and-on talks over the years to make improvements, he said the time has come.

    February 7, 2012

  • Pets perish in house fire

    A Sharon family’s home was heavily damaged in a Saturday night fire that killed their pets.

    February 6, 2012

  • Kelly rallies GOP faithful

    Mercer County Republicans agreed it was time for a change from the current administration at their annual Lincoln Day dinner Saturday night at Hempfield Station One Banquet Center, and Congressman Mike Kelly called not only for change but for more accountability.

    February 6, 2012

  • Mother leads charge for son’s autism therapy


    Gov. Tom Corbett’s budget cuts are preventing children with autism from getting the help they need.

    February 5, 2012

  • Victim describes armed robbery at her home

    Charges were held to court Friday against a Sharon teen charged as an adult in an October armed robbery.

    February 4, 2012

  • Overheated motor starts small fire at gas well

    Jamestown volunteer firefighters put out an accidental natural gas well equipment fire Friday morning in Greene Township that started when a pump motor overheated.

    February 4, 2012

  • Burglary was man’s solution to money woes

    The end of 2010 was “a crazy time in my life,” Grant T. Lockhart told a judge Thursday.

    February 4, 2012