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Congressional candidate launches GOP write-in campaign after exiting Democratic primary [1]

['Tom Garris', 'Https', 'Www.Facebook.Com', 'Anchor Reporter']

Date: 2024-03-04 23:50:00+00:00

TWISTS AND TURNS TODAY, RIGHT? WITHIN THE PAST HALF AN HOUR, LORI MCDONALD ANNOUNCED THAT SHE’S GOING TO RUN THAT WRITE IN CAMPAIGN AS A REPUBLICAN FOR THE 12TH DISTRICT SEAT CURRENTLY HELD BY SUMMER LEE. AND THIS COMES AFTER A JUDGE ORDERED TO HAVE HER NAME REMOVED FROM THE BALLOT FOR THE APRIL DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY. THE HEARING THIS MORNING HAD TO DO WITH WITH A HANDFUL OF VOTERS CHALLENGING THE VALIDITY OF SIGNATURES COLLECTED BY HER CAMPAIGN. NOW, WE SPOKE TO MCDONALD JUST ABOUT AN HOUR AND 15 MINUTES AGO. THIS WAS BEFORE HER ANNOUNCEMENT ABOUT THIS WRITE IN CAMPAIGN. TAKE A LISTEN TO WHAT SHE HAD TO SAY. HAVE YOU WITHDRAWN CHOICE. THEY ARE. THEY WERE THEY THEY WERE TRYING TO GET ME OFF THE BALLOT. THEY GOT ME OFF THE BALLOT. I HAD NO CHOICE. I WITHDREW FROM THE HEARING. I’M NOT SURE WHAT I’M GOING TO DO IN THE FUTURE, BUT STAY TUNED. I’M GOING TO DO SOMETHING. OKAY? YEAH. SHE TOLD US TO STAY TUNED AND THEN NOT LONG AFTER THAT ANNOUNCEMENT CAME GUYS MCDONALD SAID SHE WAS A VICTIM IN THIS CASE. SHE’S THE CEO OF THE CENTER FOR VICTIMS. SHE SAYS SHE WASN’T ALLOWED TO SPEAK IN THE HEARING, BUT SHE SAYS SHE’S GOING TO CONTINUE TO FIGHT FOR PEOPLE’S RIGHTS. NOW, TWO CANDIDATES REMAIN ON THE BALLOT. THE DEMOCRATIC BALLOT FOR APRIL 23RD, INCUMBENT SUMMER LEE AND CHALLENGER BHAVANI PATEL. WE SPOKE TO PATEL TODAY AND I ASKED HOW SHE THINKS THIS WILL IMPACT HER CHANCES COME ELECTION DAY. WHEN I GOT INTO THIS RACE, IT WAS ALL ABOUT AGAIN TALKING ABOUT SOME OF THE KEY ISSUES THAT MATTER TO OUR COMMUNITIES BEING PRESENT, TALKING ABOUT MY FAMILY’S STORY AND HOW THE STORY THAT MY FAMILY’S EXPERIENCED, THE LIFE THAT WE’VE LIVED HERE, HOW THAT REFLECTS THE VALUES OF WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA. AND THAT’S AN OPTION, YOU KNOW, COMING APRIL, IT’S A IT’S AN OPPORTUNITY TO REJECT EXTREMISM. IT’S AN OPPORTUNITY TO REJECT THE SORT OF FRINGE VOTING RECORD AND RHETORIC THAT WE’VE SEEN FROM OUR CURRENT REPRESENTATIVE. NOW, WE SENT AN EMAIL THIS AFTERNOON TO SUMMERLEE’S CAMPAIGN. WE DID NOT HEAR BACK F

Advertisement Congressional candidate launches GOP write-in campaign after exiting Democratic primary Laurie MacDonald has announced a write-in campaign as a Republican Share Copy Link Copy

Monday saw a major shake-up in the race for the 12th Congressional District seat.Laurie MacDonald started the day as a Democratic candidate challenging incumbent U.S. Rep. Summer Lee in the April primary election but has announced a write-in campaign for the 12th District as a Republican. Earlier Monday, MacDonald conceded in a hearing legally challenging her petition signatures. As a result, a judge directed her name be removed as a candidate for the Democratic nomination.Congressional candidates in Pennsylvania need to collect 1,000 signatures from voters to qualify for the ballot."Well, they didn't lay out a very good case at all. I wasn't allowed to speak. My attorney didn't really get to speak. It was all over the place," MacDonald said of the hearing. "They jumped from one thing to another. It was just, it was clear that it was a foregone conclusion that they were going to get me off the ballot."In her write-in campaign announcement, MacDonald wrote she was "relentlessly attacked by her opponents and was forced off the Democrat primary ballot through corrupt manipulation of our judicial system."James Hayes is also running as a Republican."Rather than a futile write-in campaign for the nomination of a party in which she is not a member, I would invite Laurie to join our campaign to bring political sanity and representation that reflects the values and needs of Pittsburgh voters," Hayes said in a statement.MacDonald's departure from the Democratic contest leaves voters with two options in that party's primary, Lee and Bhavini Patel."I believe in the core Democratic platform. I've been a Democrat my entire life," Patel said Monday. "And like I said, I think it's an opportunity to say no to extremism, to a fringe voting record, a fringe rhetoric that's been coming out of the current incumbent."Pittsburgh's Action News 4 reached out to Lee's campaign, but they declined to comment.

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[1] Url: https://www.wtae.com/article/pennsylvania-primary-laurie-macdonald-summer-lee-12th-district/60083187

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