State Rep. Bill DeWeese to Be Charged or Elected
A Pennsylvanian state representative will be facing a criminal court the same day he will be up for an unopposed election. Tim Potts notes had this to say: “What a mess. My question is, where is the Democratic Party on this? What are they thinking?”
Come Tuesday, State Rep. Bill DeWeese will be twice judged: once by criminal court, and once by constituents back home.
In an improbable twist of fate, the onetime Democratic powerhouse is to be sentenced that day in a Harrisburg courtroom for stealing from taxpayers – and at the same time, will be running in his party’s primary to represent his rural southwestern Pennsylvania district for two more years.
He is running unopposed.
Even in the corruption-caked annals of Pennsylvania politics, this rare confluence of events could produce an even rarer result: a jailed DeWeese on the fall ballot in a race his supporters think he could win.
This much is clear: On Tuesday, DeWeese could be sentenced to up to 16 months on each of five counts of theft and other charges on which he was convicted, in a scheme to have legislative aides do campaign work on state time. Whatever the sentence, he has said he will appeal his conviction.
