Prothonotary appealing judge’s dismissal of election challenge against primary opponent
Washington County Prothonotary Laura Hough is appealing a judge’s decision to dismiss her challenge attempting to remove the candidate running against her in the upcoming Republican primary.
Hough’s attorney, Sean Logue, filed the notice of appeal Tuesday with the state Commonwealth Court asking it to overturn the ruling last week by Washington County Court of Common Pleas Judge Michael Lucas allowing candidate Kevin Hill to remain on the ballot for the May 16 primary election.
Hough filed the challenge against Hill over him writing in his candidacy filing that he was “self-employed” despite a previous statement earlier this year that he was unemployed. Hill, of Mt. Pleasant Township, testified at the March 21 hearing challenging his candidacy that he was self-employed on the date he filed his paperwork because he had recently started selling his robust sports memorabilia collection on an online auction site.
But Lucas dismissed Hough’s challenge because he determined that Hill was never personally served information notifying him of the date and time of the hearing, as required by Senior Judge Katherine Emery’s order. It was revealed during last week’s hearing that Logue’s law clerk inadvertently delivered the scheduling order for Hill to county commission candidate Kevin Redford.
Logue argued during the hearing that the requirement to personally serve the candidate with the documents was overly cumbersome, and he noted that Emery was originally scheduled to preside over the hearings but was “unavailable” to attend. Lucas, who substituted for Emery with multiple election hearings last week, said he was bound by her order and did not intend to deviate from its wording while dismissing Hough’s challenge.
In an interview Wednesday morning, Logue reiterated his earlier argument that Emery “created a scheme” that made it nearly impossible for challengers to adhere to, and she was not at the hearings to rule on arguments about the personal service requirements. Logue, who also serves as the prothonotary office’s solicitor and is chairman of the Washington County Republican Party, said he expects Commonwealth Court to send the case back to Washington County for a judge to rule on the merits of the case.
Hill is the only candidate challenging Hough, of West Pike Run Township, in the Republican primary as she runs for reelection after first winning the row office in 2019.
Online court records show the appeal was docketed Wednesday and responses from both sides are due no later than April 5. It was not known when the Commonwealth Court could rule on the matter. Hill’s attorney, John Smith, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
No other election challenge appeals from Washington County appeared on the court’s docket as of Wednesday afternoon. Petitioners have until Friday to file an appeal.