Republican state House candidate Tony Moreno kicked off primary ballot in 20th District

Former Pittsburgh mayoral candidate Tony Moreno is on his third attempt at elected office in less than a year, and his path just got more difficult.

Moreno, a former Pittsburgh police officer who ran unsuccessfully for mayor as a Democrat and then as a Republican in 2021, has now been kicked off the May primary election ballot in his attempt to secure a state House seat in the 20th District, which includes northern Pittsburgh neighborhoods, Bellevue, Avalon, Ross and West View.

On Friday, Senior Judge Dan Pellegrini ordered Moreno’s name to be removed from the primary ballot, after his petition signatures were challenged in Commonwealth Court.

The petitions were challenged by Thomas R. Slavicek and Thomas M. Hrynda, a Republican councilman in Bellevue. Moreno, of Pittsburgh’s Brighton Heights, is running for state House as a Republican.

The challenge mainly surrounded petition signature pages that Moreno signed as the circulator, even though he was not the person to circulate those pages. One person testified in court that he circulated five pages for the Moreno campaign, but said he believed Moreno signed two of those pages as the circulator.

Ultimately, the court said objectors proved that Moreno was not present for six petition signature pages he signed as circulator.

State law requires that circulators be present when the signatures are signed.

According to court filings, Moreno conceded that he was not present for the signatures, but said on some of the challenged pages he was “available” or “a few blocks over” when the signatures were obtained. When asked by the court if Moreno was in eyesight or at the next house as these signatures were gathered, Moreno said he was not.

Moreno did not respond to a request for comment.

Chuck Pascal, a Leechburg lawyer who has decades of experience in election law, worked with the objectors. He said all candidates seeking office in Pennsylvania have to follow the rules.

“The rules to get on the ballot are clear, and the particular rule that the named circulator be present when a signature is collected has been clearly the law since the late 1980s,” said Pascal. “The Moreno campaign, like all campaigns, has to follow the law.”

Objectors challenged 209 of Moreno’s 419 signatures, and 116 were stricken due to the faulty circulator signatures. State House candidates are required to turn in 300 valid signatures to appear on the ballot.

Once objectors started to challenge the remaining signatures, Moreno conceded enough of the signatures would be stricken due to various reasons, such as signers not being registered voters and crossed-out signatures, which is common. The court then concluded the signature challenge was successful, and Moreno was removed from the ballot.

Moreno could still appear on the November ballot, if he were to win the Republican nomination through a write-in campaign.

The 20th District is currently served by state Rep. Emily Kinkead, D-Brighton Heights, who is running for reelection. Kinkead faces challenger Nick Mastros in the Democratic primary.