Two Pine Creek residents want votes for township supervisor candidate not counted

LOCK HAVEN, PA – Clinton County President Judge Craig P. Miller has set a Monday hearing on a petition from two Pine Creek Township residents upset with how the Clinton County Republican Party handled the filling of a GOP candidate vacancy for township supervisor on the November ballot.

The petitioners are Michele Whitney and Kevin Ferrara. They filed their 11th hour challenge on Thursday, asking the court to set aside and invalidate the party’s substituted nomination certificate for candidate David Winkleman Jr and “to refrain from tabulating any and all votes cast” for him.

The hearing before Judge Miller will be held in the courthouse large courtroom on Monday at 3:30 p.m. Among those on the order list from the court to attend are Kurtes Smith, chairman of the county Republican Party, county solicitor Larry Coploff, Pine Creek Township solicitor Thom Rosamilia and the three township supervisors, John Reese, Dean Edwards and Winkleman.

Winkleman had been appointed by Reese and Edwards in August to fill a vacancy created when supervisor Kenneth Packard resigned for health reasons.

The Clinton County Republican Party subsequently held a special September 12 meeting to nominate a candidate to place on the Nov. 7 ballot and Winkleman was the party choice. According to the filing from Whitney and Ferrara, they and Pine Creek Township GOP Committeeman Mike Remick were not notified of the meeting. All three are principals in the Clinton County Watchdog group and Remick was an unsuccessful candidate for township supervisor in the spring GOP primary while Whitney fell short in the GOP primary for county commissioner.

Whitney and Ferrara allege that the Republican Party used the wrong party rule in filling the ballot vacancy. They also say they “strongly believe” the substituted nomination certificate submitted by the party “was intentionally falsified.”

Whitney and Ferrara said they were informed by chairman Smith at the party’s Oct. 24 meeting that a committee of five members had been formed to review those interested in the candidacy and the special committee then selected Winkleman, a member of the county party’s executive board. The petitioners also wrote they became aware of the Winkleman selection when they received their mail-in ballots, claiming there was no public notice indicating a substituted nominating certificate had been filed. They termed the party actions as “perceived calculated and malicious” and wrote that Winkleman, with his name on the ballot “has an advantage over any other candidate that may have considered a write-in campaign.”

Whitney and Ferrara are asking Judge Miller to direct the county “to lock out any votes” cast for Winkelman on Tuesday, and if that is not feasible, direct the county to not tabulate any votes for him.