Challenge to mayoral candidate Dok Harris thrown out
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Allegheny County Judge Joseph James today dismissed a challenge to the candidacy of Franco Dok Harris, who will remain on the November ballot for Pittsburgh mayor.
The challenge was brought by people with ties to the campaign of another independent mayoral candidate, Kevin Acklin, a Squirrel Hill attorney. They challenged thousands of signatures on Mr. Harris' petitions, but the judge ruled that enough were valid, or could be corrected, for Mr. Harris to stay on the Nov. 3 ballot.
"I'm obviously pleased that we got to move past this type of schoolyard politics and what seemed to be a mostly frivolous lawsuit," said Mr. Harris, who lives in Shadyside and works for the bakery business run by his father, the former Steelers running back. Mr. Acklin should "figure out a way to make sure the issues of Pittsburghers are represented, and not petty politics," he continued.
A lawyer for Mr. Harris agreed to strike almost 1,500 signatures from his nomination petitions, but with Judge James still allowing enough signatures to stand for him to stay on the ballot, those tied to Mr. Acklin gave up their overall challenge.
With so many of his signatures being rejected -- and with the judge allowing Mr. Harris's campaign to go back and correct other mistakes without penalty -- Mr. Harris was asked if that showed some sloppiness in his campaign, despite the court win today. "I'm not a professional politician. I'm a businessman and I sell donuts," he responded.
Mr. Acklin and Mr. Harris are both running as independents to challenge incumbent Luke Ravenstahl, who won both the Democratic and Republican nominations in the race.
Mr. Acklin's campaign released a statement this morning pointing up some of the problems with Mr. Harris's petitions and lauding the work Mr. Acklin is doing in the campaign, which culminates in just two months.
"Kevin Acklin has been canvassing and speaking to voters seven days a week for the past three months. Acklin, his outstanding field staff, and a team of volunteers are conducting the kind of massive, citywide campaign necessary to unseat Mayor Ravenstahl. To date, the Acklin for Pittsburgh ground effort has reached out to more than 50,000 city voters," the news release said.
First Published September 2, 2009 12:14 pm
