The deadline is Tuesday, Feb. 13, for candidates to file nominating petitions to run in the April 23 primary.
Offices on the ballot will be president and delegate, U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, attorney general, auditor general, state treasurer, state Senate and state House.
One local public petition-signing event took place recently at Chickie’s & Pete’s on Roosevelt Boulevard. The Philadelphia Young Republicans sponsored the event.
Brandi Tomasetti came from Lancaster County to get some signatures for her race for U.S. Senate. She and fellow Republican Dave McCormick are seeking to challenge Democratic Sen. Bob Casey Jr.
Aaron Bashir was collecting petitions to run for the 2nd Congressional District seat held by Democratic Rep. Brendan Boyle and the 202nd Legislative District seat held by Democratic Rep. Jared Solomon, who is also running for attorney general. He’ll need 1,000 good signatures for the congressional race and 300 in the overwhelmingly Democratic 202nd district, and could end up failing to gather the minimum in either race.
Aizaz Gill was on hand to collect petitions for the race in the 172nd Legislative District. He’ll be in a Republican primary with Patrick Gushue, with the winner likely taking on former public defender Sean Dougherty, son of state Supreme Court Justice Kevin Dougherty and nephew of former electricians union boss John Dougherty. Democrats are subbing in Dougherty for Rep. Kevin Boyle after a profanity-laced video surfaced last week of the incumbent shouting at people at the Malt House, in Rockledge.
Gill, the party-endorsed candidate, has filed more than the 300 necessary nomination petition signatures to appear on the ballot. He’s collecting more signatures to file before the deadline.
“Being able to file so many signatures, and this early, shows the strong support my campaign is receiving from the residents of the 172nd District and grassroots volunteers,” Gill said. “I thank everyone who helped us achieve this goal and know that we earned this support by focusing on the issues people care about: making our neighborhoods safer, improving educational opportunity for all our kids and protecting the tax dollars of our hard-working families.”
Republicans are also expected to have a candidate to face state Sen. Jimmy Dillon in the 5th district.
Republicans in the 45th Ward selected a candidate to oppose Democratic Rep. Joe Hohenstein in the 177th district, but still must collect 300 valid signatures to survive an expected challenge by Hohenstein to the nominating petitions.
It’s too soon to tell, but there could be a number of state representatives running unopposed. Challengers have yet to emerge against Reps. Martina White, Pat Gallagher, Ed Neilson, Jason Dawkins and Anthony Bellmon. ••
