Meehan reports possible forgeries on nominating petitions

Republican congressional candidate and former U.S. Attorney Pat Meehan has asked the Delaware County prosecutor to investigate some of the nominating petitions he filed earlier this week for possible forgeries, saying his campaign had identified at least four signatures as "questionable."

In a letter delivered to county District Attorney Mike Green this morning, Meehan said a neighbor called him to advise that his name was on a nominating petition though he had never signed it. Meehan, a candidate in the 7th Congressional District, said he learned that another neighbor was listed as having signed, though he had moved away from the block.

He asked Green to review the legitimacy of other names and signatures on 20 sheets circulated by Paul Summers, of Upper Darby, a longtime GOP operative in the county. Summers was not a Meehan volunteer, campaign officials said, and must have been acting at the behest of the municipal or county Republican committees.

The campaign of Democratic candidate State Rep. Bryan Lentz said that Meehan's attempt to distance himself from the Delaware County GOP machine was laughable.

There are about 650 signatures on the sheets circulated by Summers, campaign officials said. On Tuesday, Meehan filed 3,627 signatures, more than three times the 1,000 required to secure a spot on the ballot in the May 18 primary.

Summers was director of the county convention and visitors bureau for 10 years until he was forced to step down in 1999, amid allegations he had deployed the bureau's phones and employees for political calls.

Vincent Rongione, campaign manager for Lentz, said that the Democrat wants a "complete independent investigation" to determine whether fraud or criminal activity was involved.

"It's very nice that now that Meehan is a candidate for Congress he thinks something should be done about corruption in Delaware County," Rongione said, "but the fact remains that when Pat Meehan had a chance to stand up against corruption, he did nothing."

"Pat Meehan learned of a potential problem and immediately notified the District Attorney of what he thought were improper signatures," said Bryan Kendro, campaign manager for Meehan. "Rather than take the high road and commend Pat Meehan for his commitment to the integrity of the electoral process, Bryan Lentz is engaging in partisan mudslinging and gutter politics that have become all too common in Harrisburg and Washington."

Meehan was Delaware County District attorney for two terms in the 1990s, and served for seven years as the chief U.S. prosecutor for Southeastern Pennsylvania during the second Bush administration.

"A nominating petition is a legal document which is supported by an oath," Meehan wrote in his letter to the district attorney. "I expect that those who circulate petitions on behalf of my campaign would do so with integrity. If that is not the case, then they should be held accountable."

Contact staff writer Thomas Fitzgerald at 215-854-2718 or tfitzgerald@phillynews.com.