Green Party candidate Andrew Tupone is removed from ballot in Lehigh Valley congressional race
He gathered nearly 11,000 signatures to run as a third-party candidate after previously running for local office as a Republican and then switching his party registration.
A candidate vying for one of the nation’s most competitive congressional seats who said he represented the Green Party — but who the Green Party and Democrats both accused of election meddling — has been disqualified from the November ballot, a Pennsylvania judge ruled Friday.
Andrew Tupone, 37, of Northampton County, had gathered nearly 11,000 signatures to run as a third-party candidate for Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District after previously running for local office as a Republican and switching his party registration earlier this year.
His petition for ballot access implied that he had the Green Party’s official support, though the organization said it did not know him and had questions about his motives. His actions denied the Green Party its right as a political body to select candidates who match their values, the organization argued.
“The Court’s analysis respects the internal governance of political bodies and protects political bodies from external forces hijacking those bodies,” Commonwealth Court Judge Stella M. Tsai wrote in the court document.
In a statement to The Inquirer, Tupone vowed to push his campaign forward, despite the significant legal setback.
“The establishment parties are fighting to keep me off the ballot but I’m not backing down,” he said. “I will continue this fight and appeal this decision because the people of the 7th congressional district deserve a real choice and a true progressive candidate who will stand up for them. This fight isn’t over. I’m going to keep fighting for the voters to have an option and for the representation our community deserves.”
Tupone’s quest for ballot access came as Democrats — who have said Green Party candidates pull votes from their nominees — have targeted the Lehigh Valley-based congressional seat as one of the state’s most flippable in their effort to regain control of Congress. Democratic candidate Bob Brooks, a retired firefighter and union leader, is challenging Republican U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, who won his seat two years ago by 1 percentage point.
But while the Green Party of Pennsylvania — which considers itself an ecosocialist party — rejects accusations of spoiling, leaders distanced themselves from Tupone’s candidacy, and the party was among the plaintiffs arguing for his removal.
“It sounds a lot like somebody’s just fooling around and trying to use the Green Party name,” Tim Runkle, co-chair of the state party, previously told The Inquirer.
Democrats have also accused Tupone, who was registered as a Republican until 2025 and said he previously voted for President Donald Trump, of attempting to spoil the contest. They furthered their argument after independent journalist Sean Kitchen identified Tupone’s attorney as Wally Zimolong, a Pennsylvania election lawyer who said on his website that he represented Trump, the Republican National Committee, and other Republican candidates. Zimolong also donated to Mackenzie’s reelection campaign in 2025.
Zimolong also represented the neighbors of Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro in a federal lawsuit against him in a property dispute.
Tupone, however, has said he no longer supports Trump. During his testimony before the state court, he said he became progressive after consuming social media posts from The Young Turks, a left-wing news program. He changed registration to the Democratic Party in February to run in the 7th District’s primary and to the Green Party in April after becoming “fed up with both parties” and wanting “to give voters another choice on the ballot.”
The Green Party, which held its state committee meeting in March, formally supported Lancaster resident Tony Dastra for governor and Philadelphia resident Craig Bolton for lieutenant governor — but they are unlikely to appear on the ballot after failing to receive enough signatures.
Tupone, who could not remember the name of the lieutenant governor during the court hearing, was the only candidate who filed to represent the Green Party in a Pennsylvania race for Congress.
A former Republican candidate for local office, Tupone has rejected accusations from Democrats and the Green Party that he was asked by Republicans to run for Congress, or that he paid individuals to collect the signatures to get him on the ballot. Of the 22 individuals who gathered signatures for his Green Party candidacy, only one is from Pennsylvania and multiple have previously worked for Republican campaigns, public records showed.
Tupone also said in court that he did not pay for any nomination papers to be circulated and was not aware of anyone being paid to circulate his papers. He said Runkle called him in July asking “weird questions” and “attempted to intimidate him not to run,” but he did not ask about the party’s process for endorsement or receiving support during the call.
Runkle said in the Green Party has declined to run candidates in the past who are unable to articulate the party’s values or have values that contradict the party’s.
Brooks’ campaign did not immediately provide a comment Friday.
