Mar 18, 2021 4 min read

A Washington councilman is in jeopardy of getting kicked off the ballot for the May 18 primary election after his nominating petition was challenged this week, which would be the second time it’s happened to him in the past eight years.

Joe Manning’s candidacy is now in question since 14 voter signatures are being challenged after the Democrat only accumulated 104 total signatures, just barely above the 100 needed to be placed on the ballot.

“I heard through the rumor mill that was a possibility,” Manning said Wednesday when contacted by a reporter. “We’ll see how it plays out.”

Four of the challenges involve minor issues, such as “ditto” marks, while two others involve inconsistency with how names were recorded compared to their voter registration.

But the biggest obstacle facing Manning is that seven signers appear to live outside the city. Four of the signers have addresses near West Middletown while three others appear to be from South Strabane residents. Another signature being challenged is that of a city resident, and therefore should qualify.

Manning thinks some of his nominating papers placed at various Democratic functions may have resulted in people living outside the city erroneously supporting his candidacy. He added that the COVID-19 pandemic also hindered his ability to personally find enough signatures.

“I know people were home – I could see their lights on – but they weren’t answering the door. It was a struggle,” he said. “It’s unfortunate, but that’s the world we’re living in.”

This would be the second time Manning has been removed from the ballot after not receiving enough signatures to qualify. In 2013, city resident Bernard Russell successfully challenged Manning’s petition, getting 11 out of the 110 signatures struck from the record, leaving him just one shy of the threshold. But Manning mounted a successful write-in campaign in that primary and his name was placed on the ballot in the general election in the fall, when he won reelection.

Manning was not sure if he would fight this more recent challenge, but he expected to mount another write-in campaign if needed.

“I’m not sure which way I’m going to go,” he said. “A write-in campaign is possible if there are in fact seven signatures outside the city. I’m not going to pay a lot on legal fees for something that clearly can’t be challenged.”

Georgianna Farkas, who is a registered Democrat in the city, filed the challenge Tuesday with the assistance of Carnegie-based attorney Sean Logue, who is the solicitor for the Washington County Republic Party. While Logue does not live in Washington, he owns real estate there and complained about Manning’s performance as councilman and the city’s taxes.

Logue said it was “insulting” that Manning did not take the time to garner more than enough valid signatures to get on the ballot.

“The repercussions are that he is not on the ballot,” Logue said.

Manning, who has been a city councilman since 2010, could withdraw his name from the ballot by March 24, or a hearing would need to be scheduled for a judge to determine the viability of his candidacy. He is permitted to fight the petition attempting to remove him from the ballot, but with seven signers living outside, it’s unlikely that effort would succeed.

“My guess is this is a cut and dried issue and he won’t waste the courthouse’s time like he’s wasted the city of Washington’s taxpayers’ time,” Logue said.

There are two seats open on council, including Manning’s position. Andrew Callan and Joseph DeThomas filed as Democrats to run for Washington City Council while Dheaven Kelley filed as a Republican. Councilman Matt Staniszewski, who has been jailed since allegedly violating his probation for a 2019 drunken driving conviction, did not have nominating papers filed on his behalf to run for reelection.

Tuesday was the last day for registered voters to file a challenge against any candidate running in the primary.

The only other challenges were in Donegal Township, where a contingent of four Republican voters issued an array of petitions against multiple candidates.

Dave Ealy, Douglas Teagarden, Kathleen Miller and Mike Smith challenged 15 total petitions, including that of five people running for township supervisor, where three seats are open after the board was downsized from five.

The group contends that Randy Poland, Edward Shingle Jr., James Bauer and Kathleen Croft erroneously filed multiple nominating papers, while they also claim there was a problem with the paperwork for Chad Thomas. However, Croft is running as a Democrat, meaning the challenge against her would likely be tossed since only a voter in her own party can take issue with her nomination.