The Brief: Will Stephanie Singer, Milton Street Survive Ballot Challenge Season?

A dozen candidates found out last week that legal challenges had been filed against them to try to kick them off the May 19th primary ballot.

So far, three hopefuls have lost their challenges, according to the City Commissioners’ office: Sheriff candidate Larry King (seriously, that’s his name), 9th Council District candidate Archye Leacock and City Commissioner candidate Dennis Lee.

The most fascinating ballot challenges that remain are against City Commissioner Stephanie Singer and mayoral candidate Milton Street.

The challenge against Singer is relatively straightforward: A trio of voters says she didn’t collect enough valid signatures. (Citywide candidates must amass 1,000 legit signatures to get on the ballot.) She only filed 1,485 signatures, the least of any City Commissioner candidate, which puts her in a somewhat vulnerable position. For the sake of comparison, her challenger Lisa Deeley collected more than 9,000 signatures.

A court hearing on Singer’s ballot challenge is scheduled to continue today.

Street, meanwhile, survived one part of a legal challenge against him last week when a judge ruled that he can run for mayor as a Democrat even though he was a registered Independent when he filed nominating petitions. Now, Street must prove that he lives in the city of Philadelphia in order to remain on the primary ballot. Whether he will be able to do that may depend on whether he is married to his “love interest,” who lives in New Jersey. NewsWorks explains:

Pennsylvania law defines a candidate’s residence as wherever his or her spouse lives. If Milton Street is actually married to his “love interest,” that will give his challengers a pretty good case to knock him off the ballot, which will change the lineup of mayoral candidates on May 19. And Street’s presence in the campaign provides more than just touches of absurdity like the flap over this marital status. Remember, the man got 24 percent of the vote against Michael Nutter in the 2011 Democratic primary.

A hearing for Street’s challenge is planned for Wednesday.

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