by Christen Smith
A new lawsuit filed in Pennsylvania asks the state court to scrub Republican U.S. Rep. Scott Perry from the upcoming primary ballot.
Gene Stilp, a Harrisburg-based activist, filed the legal challenge in Commonwealth Court on Tuesday, claiming Perry – who represents the 10th Congressional District in south-central Pennsylvania – violated the Constitution’s 14th Amendment for his support of 2020 election fraud “conspiracy theories.”
Perry’s phone records were subpoenaed as part of a federal investigation into the Jan. 6 attacks on Capitol Hill, though he’s never faced any criminal charges related to the event. The data collected, however, allegedly links the congressman to prominent Trump administration officials and supporters who sought to decertify the 2020 election results amid voter fraud allegations.
Stilp ran an unsuccessful state House campaign in 2014 and has remained a vocal critic of conservative elected officials. He also filed a lawsuit in September to keep Trump off the ballot.
The legal challenge comes the same day Democratic state Sen. Art Haywood said he would file an ethics complaint against Republican state Sen. Doug Mastriano for his belief that the 2020 election results were “illegitimate” and “should be overturned.”
He also criticized Mastriano – who unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2022 – for attending the Jan. 6 “Stop the Steal” rally that preceded the riot. Mastriano has said he left before protestors entered the Capitol.
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Christen is Pennsylvania editor for The Center Square newswire service and co-host of Pennsylvania in Focus, a weekly podcast on America’s Talking Network. Find her work in The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Broad + Liberty, RealClear, the Washington Examiner and elsewhere.
