Pa. GOP wants Buchtan removed from state committee ballot
The Pennsylvania Republican Party is asking local election officials to block GOP state Senate candidate Al Buchtan from running for the party’s state committee position in Washington County over its assertion that he actually lives in Greene County.
The Washington County Board of Elections, which is made up of the three county commissioners, is holding a public hearing at 11 a.m. today to decide whether Buchtan should remain on the ballot for the Republican State Committee position for the May 19 primary.
County officials said Wednesday they received a letter from the state GOP last week making the request, leading to this morning’s election board hearing in the public meeting room on the ground floor of the Crossroads Center building in Washington. While most ballot challenges are decided by the state courts for this mid-term election, the county’s elections board is reviewing this request because it involves a party committee position from Washington County.
Regardless of the decision on his eligibility to run for state committee, Buchtan will still be running against three-term incumbent state Sen. Camera Bartolotta, R-Carroll, in next month’s primary. The 46th State Senate District includes all of Washington and Greene counties, and the southern sliver of Beaver County.
The state GOP previously challenged Buchtan’s candidates for state Senate after he filled out an affidavit for his nominating petitions listing his residence as Canonsburg, although his financial disclosure form stated his address at a home in Cumberland Township in Greene County. Buchtan previously said he moved to the rental home in Canonsburg in October as he and his wife, Melinda, and their stepdaughter – who are still living at the Greene County home – were preparing to buy a house in Washington County and permanently move there.
Commonwealth Court Judge Stacy Wallace ruled April 2 that Buchtan can remain on the ballot for state Senate, but he must amend his candidate affidavit to list the Greene County address. Wallace determined that while Buchtan “believes” he lives in Canonsburg, his domicile is actually his home in Cumberland Township, so he will be listed on the ballot as being from Greene County. The state Supreme Court upheld Wallace’s decision in a 4-3 vote on April 10.
“Both the Commonwealth and Supreme Courts of Pennsylvania agreed that Al Buchtan is a resident of Greene County,” state GOP spokesman James Markley said in an emailed statement.
Buchtan said he received a letter Tuesday informing him of the challenge, but he would let his attorneys handle the proceeding since he would not be attending today’s hearing. Buchtan added he is still registered to vote in Washington County and still considers it his new residence despite having to change the candidate affidavit.
“I’m still in Canonsburg. I still live here,” Buchtan said in a phone interview. “My driver’s license and everything I need to be a resident of Canonsburg, Washington County, I’ve done. I’m still here. I’m not going anywhere. It’s definitely a ruse to get me off the ballot one way or another. We’ll see how things turn out.”
But Wallace’s requirement for him to change his candidate affidavit listing his Greene County address as his home could force the elections board to remove Buchtan from the ballot in his bid to represent Washington County on the GOP state committee. Republican Commissioners Nick Sherman and Electra Janis, along with Democratic Commissioner Larry Maggi, sit on the elections board.
“This hearing will only determine whether he is removed as Republican State Committeeman and has no bearing on the Pennsylvania State Senate race,” Sherman said in a written statement.
The challenge and possible appeals on the issue are delaying the Washington County elections office from sending out mail-in ballots for both Republicans and Democrats. Even with a decision expected at the conclusion of tomorrow’s hearing, mail-in ballots would likely go out late next week at the earliest, with May 5 as the deadline for the elections office to send them out, giving voters only two weeks to receive and return them.