The race for the state House seat in the 158th Legislative District — specifically for the Republican Party nomination — continues to be controversial.
The state House Democratic Campaign Committee has challenged the legitimacy of a Republican’s eligibility for state representative based on the candidate’s residency.
The committee issued a release on April 21 that said Eric M. Roe, who is running a write-in campaign for the GOP nomination, does not meet the residency requirements to run for the office. The Republicans say it just isn’t so.
State law requires candidates for state representative to be residents of the state for four years and to be an inhabitant of their respective districts for one year before the election. By law, Roe should have been a legal resident of Pennsylvania since November 2012 and of the district since November 2015.
In the release, Nathan Davidson, executive director of the Pennsylvania HDCC, cited Roe’s LinkedIn profile page, saying that page “casts doubts” on his eligibility to run for the seat. The committee said Roe graduated from American University in 2010, then went to work for the Republican National Committee in Washington D.C. and that the RNC reported that he lived in Washington.
Roe continued to live in D.C. until November 2012, listing his residence as Washington while working for Let Freedom Ring, the release said, and that Roe then left the country for a year to study at University College London.
“Roe did not plant roots in Pennsylvania and establish his residency here until he joined the John Jay Institute in August 2014,” according to the release.
Val DiGiorgio, the chairman of the Republican Committee of Chester County, said in an email: “This is a pathetic attempt by the Democrat [sic] Party to confuse voters just days before a primary election in hopes that their Democrat candidate wins the Republican Primary.”
(State law does not allow a candidate for state House to cross-file, but candidates from one party may mount a write-in campaign on another party’s ballot. Rzucidlo said she is running such a campaign in Tuesday’s primary.)
DiGiorgio said Roe has been a resident of the district for 25 years, adding that Roe’s tax returns, driver’s license, car and voter’s registration show he’s been a resident since he was 18.
“This is all public record and indisputable,” DiGiorgio wrote.
He claimed that the Democratic Party candidate, Susan Rzucidlo, has “spent the last two months trying to mislead Republicans, hoping they will vote for her in the Republican Primary. Now, she is propagating blatant lies and should be ashamed of herself. She is a three-time loser, and in her fourth attempt for this office, she knows her only hope for election is underhanded tricks and political games.”
Rzucidlo said she knew nothing about the HDCC press release until after it was issued. She also said DiGrigorio is just trying to blame her for his problems in the GOP.
The 158th Legislative District has been involved with political controversy for the last two years. Republican Chris Ross has been the representative for 20 years, but two years ago he wanted to retire.
The Chester County GOP endorsed Cuyler Walker to run in 2014, but Walker withdrew at the last minute for reasons never made public. Ross then ran for, and won, another term.
Earlier this year Roe, Perry Bentley and Lenny Rivera sought the GOP nomination. The party endorsed Rivera, but he withdrew his name because of irregularities regarding signatures gathered on his ballot petition.
However, Rivera decided to run a write-in campaign, but changed his mind. Bentley then announced a write-in campaign, and Roe followed suit after the party chose to endorse him over Bentley.
Whoever gets the Republican nomination in Tuesday’s primary will face Rzucidlo in November.
The 158th comprises London Britain, New Garden, East Marlborough, West Marlborough, Newlin, East Bradford, West Bradford and parts of West Goshen townships and Avondale Borough.
About Rich Schwartzman
Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.
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If Eric has been a resident, then why did he find it necessary to embellish his LinkedIn resume to make it appear that he was a DC insider? I find it very troubling that this young man, at the very start of his political career, is already playing fast-and-loose with the facts. Troubling, indeed.