Pa. Republicans to delay Sen. Brewster's oath of office for 'time to digest' Ziccarrelli's election dispute

Pennsylvania’s top Republican in the Senate called Monday night for holding off on swearing in Democratic state Sen. Jim Brewster, spurring staunch criticism from Democrats who argue doing so defies state-certified election results and multiple court rulings.

Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman, a Centre County Republican, defended his decision to delay the Senate’s acceptance of the 45th District race’s results in response to an election contest filed three days ago by Nicole Ziccarelli, Brewster’s Republican challenger from Lower Burrell.

Corman said senators need “time to digest” the latest information regarding the fight for the 45th District, which includes parts of Allegheny and Westmoreland counties. Senate leaders got Ziccarelli’s more than 500-page document on Friday that asks the Senate to “refuse to accept” and overturn the certified election results of the narrow race. Brewster’s response came Monday.

“I think it’s only right to give them (senators) a little time to review before asking them to make any decisions on this case,” Corman told reporters on a conference call Monday night.

According to results certified by the Secretary of State on Dec. 16, Brewster of McKeesport, won his third full four-year term in November with a 69-vote victory over Ziccarelli.

Brewster had been set to take the oath of office today alongside fellow senators elected in November.

“The man should be seated to his rightful position as the winner of the 45th District,” said Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa, D-Forest Hills.

Ziccarelli, who has filed multiple legal disputes, argues the win was awarded to the Democratic incumbent through a “blatantly political maneuver” to count what she called hundreds of illegally cast ballots in Allegheny County.

Democrats lamented that thwarting Brewster from taking office will leave the people of the 45th District without representation for an indefinite time.

Corman said he does not anticipate the Senate taking up major legislative votes in January and that the staff of the 45th District continues to be available to assist constituents and have been doing so since November.

Corman acknowledged Ziccarelli’s contest marks a “fairly unique if not unprecedented situation.” He would not specify a timeline for a resolution but said he thinks it should be achieved in a “fairly expeditious” manner.

“I think the people of the 45th District will be glad we got it correct, instead of seating one person and then ultimately seating another one a few weeks later,” Corman said.

State Sen. Lindsey Williams, D-West View, called the attempt to delay Brewster’s next term a “direct attack on the democratic process.”

“Senate Republicans need to stop ignoring the will of voters, and they need to seat Sen. Brewster,” she said Monday night in a statement.

Sen. Vincent Hughes, D-Philadelphia, argued the Senate Republicans “clearly are abusing their powers.”

“This is wrong, this is robbery, and it needs to stop right now,” Hughes said.

Ziccarelli claims the Allegheny County Board of Elections counted more than 2,300 mail-in ballots not properly dated, including 311 from the 45th Senate District. That gave Brewster an additional margin of 94 votes.

Exclusion of those ballots would give Ziccarelli a 25-vote victory, she contends.

Westmoreland County’s Republican-controlled elections board in November — at the Ziccarelli campaign’s request — refused to count mail-in ballots that contained technical errors such as incorrect dates handwritten on envelopes submitted by voters despite a state supreme court ruling that such voter-written dates were unnecessary.

“You have a statewide directive to count the votes in every county. You have some counties who refuse to acknowledge and accept the outcome of that Supreme Court case. That’s wrong,” Costa said. “Allegheny County did what it was required to do under the law based upon the Supreme Court’s decision, and that’s what the Secretary of State ultimately certified.

“There should be uniformity across the state … but some Republican counties, including Westmoreland, chose to go a different path and ignore the statement from the Supreme Court,” Costa said.

U.S. District Court Judge Nicholas Ranjan last month rejected an injunction request from the Ziccarelli campaign seeking to halt Allegheny County’s certification of the election results.

Another federal lawsuit seeking to overturn the state’s certification of the race is ongoing.

Corman shrugged off the suggestion that allowing an election contest to be filed days before the scheduled oath of office would set a troublesome precedent. He said the Senate’s role in regards to elections qualifications must be exercised “very judiciously and very cautiously.”

“Obviously, this was a race that was extremely close, within a 100 votes either way … it’s a race that has unique rulings by both the Secretary of State and the Supreme Court, and it is currently being contested in a federal court. And, so, I think this unique set of circumstances dictates that the Senate review it and take very seriously the contest.

“If this was a contest of a race that wasn’t very close, that was thousands of votes apart, we probably wouldn’t give it that much credibility.”

The 45th District spans Plum, Arnold, Lower Burrell, New Kensington, Allegheny Township, East Vandergrift, Hyde Park, Vandergrift and West Leechburg in the Alle-­Kiski Valley along with the Mon Valley