Politics and Current
Cornel West Loses Pennsylvania Presidential Seat
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Independent presidential candidate Cornel West lost a legal fight Friday to secure a seat on the ballot in the important thing swing state of Pennsylvania.
Commonwealth Court Judge Renee Cohn Jubelirer in a 15-page opinion sided with the Secretary of State’s office under Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro in rejecting West’s nomination papers.
The Secretary of State’s office said West’s campaign failed to supply required affidavits from 14 of West’s 19 presidential electors.
Jubelirer, a Republican, agreed with the Secretary of State’s office that minor party presidential electors could be considered for office as candidates who must file affidavits, even when major party presidential electors don’t.
The lawsuit is one among a series of partisan legal maneuvers around independent candidates, wherein supporters of Republican candidate Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris are looking for to stymie the elections of independent candidates who could lose support — or help those that could harm their opponent.
The November 5 election is predicted to be close in Pennsylvania, whose 19 electoral votes tie with Illinois for fifth place and arguably essentially the most votes awarded of any state within the race.
West’s lawyer, who has long worked with Republican Party candidates and causes, didn’t immediately say whether he would appeal to the state Supreme Court.
Also Friday, independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. informed the court in a letter that he would withdraw from the ballot in Pennsylvania. In a speech in Phoenix, Kennedy said he was suspending his presidential bid, supporting Trump and planning to stay on the ballot in states where he was unlikely to affect the end result.
Jill Stein of the Green Party and Chase Oliver of the Libertarian Party have filed petitions to have their candidacies placed on the Pennsylvania presidential ticket and not using a hitch, while the Socialism and Liberation Party has said it would appeal a judge’s decision to remove their presidential candidate, Claudia De la Cruz, from the Pennsylvania ticket.