Payton’s fight for
re-election is not over yet

Campaign Bits
By Tom Waring

A Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court judge last week certified state Rep. Tony Payton’s place on the April 22 primary ballot, but his opponent plans an appeal to the state Supreme Court.
Judge Doris Smith-Ribner ruled that Payton (D-179th dist.) had 385 valid signatures, more than the required minimum of 300.
John A. Danford, a registered Democrat in the district who objected to Payton’s original nominating petitions, will appeal. Attorney James C. Crumlish III will continue to handle the case. Guy Lewis, Payton’s opponent in the primary, supports the appeal.
Payton filed 1,361 signatures, but Danford objected after looking at the petition. At the start of a March 18 hearing, Payton attorney Clifford Levine withdrew 791 signatures, acknowledging that they were invalid for a variety of reasons.
The Lewis campaign said most of the bad petitions were forged or from non-Democrats. The judge also discounted 28 signatures because the circulator on the petition lived outside the district and 79 signatures on documents that were not notarized.
In the end, Payton had 85 more valid petitions than he needed.
Nonetheless, Smith-Ribner referenced all of the invalid signatures in her written opinion.
"Because of the extensive effort and time required to dispose of this matter, the Court stresses that candidates need to fully instruct themselves and their circulators on the detailed legal requirements of the signature collection process and to better monitor their performance so as to reduce or eliminate the type of imbalances seen here and to reduce the need for litigation," she wrote.
The judge also pointed out that some of Danford’s challenged signatures were found to be valid without the benefit of a handwriting expert. She also noted that other challenges were withdrawn by Crumlish.

• • •

The Philadelphia Building Trades Council has unanimously endorsed Democrat Brendan Boyle in the 170th Legislative District.
Boyle faces Republican Matt Taubenberger for the seat being vacated by retiring Republican Rep. George Kenney, who beat Boyle in 2004 and ’06. Taubenberger is an aide to Kenney.
The building trades include carpenters, ironworkers, sheet metal workers, electricians, laborers, sprinkler fitters and steam fitters.
"We believe Brendan Boyle will be a fighter and leader for working and middle-class families," said Joseph Dougherty, business manager for Iron Workers Local 401, calling Boyle "very smart" and a "real worker."
Boyle has already been endorsed by Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5.

• • •

The Liberty City Democratic Club, a local gay political organization, endorsed New York Sen. Hillary Clinton for president.
Clinton earned the nod by winning two-thirds of the votes of members. She leads Illinois Sen. Barack Obama in polls in Pennsylvania, but trails in the overall delegate count.
"We need her experience working for us," said Matthew Woodcock, endorsement chairman of the club.
Clinton won the backing for her opposition to a proposed constitutional amendment that would define marriage as between a man and a woman and her support for granting gay couples the same legal rights as all Americans.
"We need to end the divisive politics of the current administration. As president, I will do just that and will continue fighting for equality for all Americans," Clinton said.

• • •

The race between Clinton and Obama is one reason many Republican voters in Pennsylvania switched their party affiliation to Democrat by last week’s deadline.
Robert Gleason, chairman of the state Republican Party, vowed to win back those former GOP voters. He believes some of them switched parties specifically to vote against either Clinton or Obama.
"These new registration numbers don’t represent a mass change of the public’s political ideology," he said.

• • •

It’s not too early to look ahead to the 2010 political season.
That year, U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter is expected to seek a six-year term.
The Republican will hold a $500-per-couple fund-raiser on Saturday night at the Irish Pub, at 20th and Walnut streets. The cocktail reception/dinner will be hosted by prominent attorney Jimmy Binns.
Specter, who lives in East Falls, is a former Philadelphia district attorney who was elected to the Senate in 1980. In 2004, he easily defeated then-Democratic U.S. Rep. Joe Hoeffel. ••
Reporter Tom Waring can be reached at 215-354-3034 or twaring@phillynews.com