Court ruling leaves Mozer unopposed in Monessen

A judge determined that the Monessen mayor’s only challenger didn’t have enough qualifying signatures.

Monessen Mayor Ron Mozer will run unopposed in his reelection bid after Democratic challenger Mary Jo Smith was removed from the ballot in a court ruling Monday.

Westmoreland County Common Pleas Judge Harry Smail Jr. ruled Smith was three signatures short of the required number needed to appear on the ballot, TribLive reported.

Mozer submitted documents to the court last week disputing the validity of Smith’s nomination petition, claiming some of its signatures do not belong to registered Democratic voters.

Mozer said he noticed names of people who are not registered Democrats while looking over Smith’s nomination petition. Smith, a former Monessen mayor, told the Mon Valley Independent she asked each person who signed the petition if they were a registered Democrat, and all of them said “yes.”

“Evidently, they didn’t tell me the truth,” Smith said.

When asked why he felt compelled to take the matter to court, Mozer said, “There’s rules, there’s laws and it was just the right thing to do.”

Smith said she will not challenge the judge’s decision.

Smith added that she began collecting signatures late because she had COVID for a week and a half.

“And I wasn’t going door to door to spread it,” she said.

The period to collect signatures and file nomination petitions started Feb. 18 and concluded March 11. For third class city offices, candidates are required to obtain 100 signatures to get on the ballot.

Barring a successful writein campaign, Mozer is in line to become the first Monessen mayor to secure a second term in office during the 21st century.

Robert Leone was the last mayor elected to a second term in Monessen. He led the city’s government from 1990 through 1997.

While there are no challengers on the ballot, Mozer said he will be “campaigning as hard as ever” to ensure he stays in office.

This year’s primary is May 20.

In addition to Mozer, two Monessen council members, Tony Orzechowski and John Nestor, will seek reelection bids this year, according to Westmoreland County’s unofficial candidate list. There are no challengers running for council.