The road to re-election for veteran U.S. Rep. John Murtha just got a good bit smoother. A state judge yesterday ruled that the lone Republican running in the primary for the Western Pennsylvania seat did not collect enough signatures to make the ballot.
Commonwealth Court Judge Robert Simpson said Republican candidate Bill Russell's nominating petition contained only 993 valid signatures, seven fewer than required.
That left Mr. Murtha, 75, a Democrat, without opposition in the primary or general election.
Mr. Russell, 45, left the Army two years short of retirement and moved from Washington, D.C., to Johnstown to challenge Mr. Murtha. He said yesterday that bad weather and other factors made it difficult to collect enough signatures in the heavily Democratic district.
"I think Mike Huckabee said it best when he said if you can't stand the sight of your own blood, buy a ticket and sit in the stands," Mr. Russell said. "Statistically, we made it by the skin of our teeth and we knew we were vulnerable."
Mr. Russell, citing a lack of money, said he was not planning an appeal to the state Supreme Court but would entertain a write-in nomination. To qualify as a write-in, Russell would need at least 1,000 votes and would have to be the top vote-getter in the Republican primary.
Mr. Russell, a lieutenant colonel, has served in Iraq and was inside the Pentagon when it was attacked by terrorists on Sept. 11, 2001, but was unhurt. He said he was considering returning to the Army or Army Reserves.
"The end result of this is we did have a significant effect on the political debate, even though it may be a small and indirect one," he said.