Judge rejects Brian Fitzpatrick’s attempt to remove Bob Harvie ally from Bucks election board
Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick sued Diane Ellis-Marseglia after she declined to recuse herself from the Bucks County Election Board over her support of his opponent, Democrat Bob Harvie.
A Bucks County commissioner should not be disqualified from serving on the county election board, a judge ruled the day before the general election in a suit brought by Republican U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick.
Fitzpatrick sued Diane Ellis-Marseglia last week, claiming the Democratic county official expressed “animus” toward his candidacy that required her disqualification. Ellis-Marseglia also showed a “disdain for election law,” the suit said.
The suit centered on the commissioner’s support for her close friend and colleague, Democrat Bob Harvie, who is challenging Fitzpatrick in the toss-up 1st Congressional District race, which could determine party control of the U.S. House.
Harvie narrowly led the incumbent by 2 percentage points in an Inquirer/New York Times/Siena University poll released last week.
Chester County Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey R. Sommer, an out-of-county judge who presided over the case, declined Monday to disqualify Ellis-Marseglia.
“Petitioner has asked this Court to perform a significant alteration of the election governance process based upon supposition and opinion,” Sommer wrote in a footnote to his one-page order. “Without statutory authority we decline.”
The judge suggested during a Bucks County courthouse hearing Monday that he could not rule on Fitzpatrick’s behalf, even if he were to agree Ellis-Marseglia’s behavior was a “bad look.”
That’s because Pennsylvania election law allows election officials to be removed only if they are unqualified for the position, are on the ballot, or are impeached, the judge said. Ethical breaches or conflicts of interest like what Fitzpatrick alleged aren’t addressed in the law.
A spokesperson for the county declined to further comment. (The county solicitor represented Ellis-Marseglia in the case).
“While we are disappointed with the judge’s ruling we note that Judge Sommer said nothing that condones Commissioner Marseglia’s hyper-partisan activities and indeed he has left the door open to address the bias issue before the Board of Elections on issues that may arise,“ Geoffrey R. Johnson, Fitzpatrick’s attorney, said in a statement.
Harvie’s campaign called Fitzpatrick’s lawsuit a “page out of Donald Trump’s playbook.” The Democrat’s campaign accused the GOP incumbent of trying to create “doubt in our election process because he is afraid he is going to lose.”
The three-person board oversees elections in the county, including certifying results. Judge Jordan Yeager chairs the board and Republican Commissioner Gene DiGirolamo is also a member.
Harvie, the board’s former chair, recused himself when he launched the bid for Congress.
Johnson argued in the two-hour hearing Monday that even the appearance of a conflict of interest by Ellis-Marseglia should be disqualifying and election officials have the “highest duty to act impartially and fairly.”
Johnson showed the judge a video of Ellis-Marseglia in an October rally for Harvie, leading the crowd in a “fire Fitz in ’26″ chant. He also showed security camera from the Bucks County administrative building, showing the commissioner removing copies of the Bucks County Herald that featured a Fitzpatrick ad.
The judge also saw a 2024 clip from an election board meeting, when Bucks was among the counties that defied a Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling and counted undated mail ballots, in which Ellis-Marseglia said “precedent by a court doesn’t matter anymore in this country.”
The commissioner later apologized for her comment amid bipartisan backlash.
“Is that somebody who should be judging election issues?” Johnson said. “She shouldn’t sit on the board of elections.”
Bucks County Solicitor Dan Grieser told the judge Ellis-Marseglia had a First Amendment right to support a political candidate and express her opinion, like anyone else. Throughout her tenure on the board, she certified election victories for Republicans, including all of Fitzpatrick’s victories.
Fitzpatrick could ask the lawmakers in Harrisburg to impeach Ellis-Marseglia if her conduct was severe enough, Grieser said. And she is not required to recuse herself as long as she isn’t on the ballot herself.
The attempt to preemptively disqualify the commissioner is inappropriate, Grieser said. If after the election Ellis-Marseglia votes in a way Fitzpatrick believes is inappropriate, the solicitor added, he should appeal that specific decision.
“We aren’t there yet,” Grieser said.
Roughly a dozen people with heart stickers attended the hearing to show support for Ellis-Marseglia.
Agnes Morrison, 73, said she feared Fitzpatrick brought the suit in an attempt to delegitimize the election in case he loses.
“It’s a very Trumpian tactic,” she said.
