Chaos in Senate as 45th District seat remains open

By KRISTIE LINDEN

klinden@yourmvi.com

The Pennsylvania Senate erupted into chaos Tuesday as Democrats and Republicans maneuvered over seating McKeesport’s Sen. Jim Brewster, including the temporary removal of Lt. Gov. John Fetterman as Senate president.

Gov. Tom Wolf said Tuesday’s antics were unethical.

“… Brewster rightfully won the 45th Senate District, but Senate Republicans are ignoring the voters in the district and refusing to swear him in as senator,” Wolf said. “This is a shameful power grab that disgraces the institution.”

President Pro Tempore Jake Corman, R-Bellefonte, announced his intention Monday to “delay” seating a senator in the 45th District.

Democratic Leader Sen. Jay Costa, D-Forest Hills, said Corman is not merely delaying Brewster’s swearing in, he is denying it.

“We have no reason to believe that the Republicans ever intend to seat the rightful winner of this district — Jim Brewster,” Costa said.

Brewster, a Democratic incumbent, was the certified election winner by 69 votes, but his Republican challenger, newcomer Nicole Ziccarelli of New Kensington, filed an election contest directly with the Senate Jan. 1.

Ziccarelli has lost several court challenges to the election, but has one federal court challenge outstanding. Her election contest, however, doesn’t directly pertain to that court challenge.

“In the Ziccarelli contest petition, there is no request for delay. Her request asks the Senate to invalidate the results of the election, ignore the decisions of the court and instead install her as the winner of the 45th District,” Costa said.

On Monday, Corman announced he would not swear Brewster into office for his third term, but would instead give the members of the Senate time to essentially absorb Ziccarelli’s petition and Brewster’s response to it before deciding what to do.

Brewster said Monday he is fighting for the process because he knows there will be others who come after him.

“I have confidence in the senators I have worked with, both Democrat and Republican that are fair-minded people,” he said. “And they know all too well how important it is not to disrespect the process. I would hope there are enough fair-minded people who understand that declaring me the winner is something that has to happen to preserve the integrity of the process.”   

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