On a day when conservative "Tea Party" activists were plotting their November revenge for last night's vote by Democrats in the U.S. House to approve health care reform legislation, Pia Varma didn't even show up in court in Philadelphia to fight for her place on the ballot in a challenge to U.S. Rep. Bob Brady. Commonwealth Court Judge Johnny J. Butler ordered Varma removed as a candidate for the 1st Congressional District for failing to submit at least 1,000 valid signatures of registered voters on nominating petitions for her campaign.
Steven Kaplan, an attorney who does legal work for the Democratic City Committee, asked Butler to fine Varma and her campaign, calling the court hearing a "very expensive enterprise." Butler shot down that request as "overkill," though he did say Varma's "conduct is totally unacceptable." A process server testified that he served Varma with a copy of the court notice for the hearing last week as she entered the Center City offices of Fox 29 News, where she was to be interviewed about her candidacy. Kaplan told Butler he called Varma three times, sent her three e-mails and three text messages, advising her about the hearing.
Varma, via email, later told PhillyClout that she had not been served with the hearing notice. She hung responsibility for her nominating petition troubles on local GOP leaders. "Regarding my petitions, as the endorsed candidate, I naively relied on the Republican City Committee to gather the bulk of my signatures," Varma e-mailed. "If there were problems with the signatures then it would be best to ask [GOP Chairman] Vito Canuso or [GOP General Counsel] Michael Meehan. They would know more than me."
Varma and her supporters traded taunts with people posting on her Facebook pages over the weekend. She told PhillyClout last week that she would fight the petition challenge and fall back to a write-in campaign if she was removed from the ballot. Kaplan mocked Varma after this morning's hearing, saying she was trying to be "The Sarah Palin of Philadelphia" by courting the Tea Party movement.
Kaplan knocked Varma off the ballot by successfully challenging nine petitions that held a combined 184 signatures because they were circulated by people who do not live in the 1st Congressional District. Varma had 1,138 names submitted. Kaplan got her below 1,000 signatures, adding that he had "dozens and dozens" of additional challenges if the court wanted to do a line-by-line examination.
Anyone that only submits 1138 signatures to run for Congress should not run for borough dog catcher let alone Congress. Brady is atrocious but this again shows that Vito Canuso and Michael Meehan are the worst thing to happen to the Republican Party in Philadelphia in 50 years.— Grill
Comment removed.- Grimreeper, you seem to have some unresolved anger issues. And a stuck caps lock.— Echo
- "grimreeper": Get a life!— jnixon05
- Comment removed.
- "grimreeper": I do not work for city hall. You're talking all this trash, but your candidate couldn't even get 1K signatures to run for CONGRESS. I could get 1K signatures out of Narberth in 1 week if I had to... Pathetic... GET A LIFE!— jnixon05
- Your message made no sense. It was the comment equivalent of someone running up and shouting at you in Klingon. It's all sound and fury, so I don't have a view. My point: It's a shame the Republican party in this town can't seem to get it together, since the competition is setting the bar pretty low. And it's difficult to be a Republican in a city where the only other Republicans type incoherently in all caps.— Echo
i like the whale-lardo comment, funny stuff. but yeah, he's a jerk for sure.- Comment removed.
- Comment removed.
- She was hung out to dry and it sounds like the Inquirer is doing it's best to make sure she stays there. That is the exact one sided, insider, mafia type tactics that she is talking about.— Philatonian
- It sound like Pia didn't know what she was getting into. The Republicans just wanted somebody to run against Brady. They definately dropped the ball on her by not geting enough signatures. Probably good for Pia, though. She really couldn't have won.— jnixon05
- Comment removed.
- I don't know anything about Varma, but I do know that the old GOP in Philly is in cahoots with the Dems. There is no reason any GOP party has to be as inept as they are, removing judges from the ballot at the last minute. The state GOP should investigate the Philly GOP thoroughly.— CleanupPhilly
- Lol, ok "grimreeper". You can have the last word. Some of us have work to do!— jnixon05
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David Gambacorta spent a small eternity writing about cops, drug dealers and serial killers. Now he’s writing about power and politics – which sometimes reminds him of the old crime beat. He joined the Daily News in 2005. And yes, he knows you’re not quite sure how to pronounce his last name. E-mail tips to gambacd@phillynews.com
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Catherine Lucey joined the Daily News in 2002 and has written about murderous drug gangs, political protesters and Harry Potter. After covering the 2007 mayoral election, she moved over to the City Hall bureau where she has been reporting on the Nutter administration.
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Jan Ransom, a native New Yorker, joined the Daily News in 2010 after graduating from Howard University. She has since written about the difficulty of filing police complaints, tax deadbeats and life after violent home invasions. She joined the Daily News City Hall Bureau in 2011 and has plunged headfirst into reporting on administration budget battles and City Council shenanigans.
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