An attorney for Patricia McCullough, candidate for an open state Supreme Court seat, issued cease and desist letters last week to the Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC) and McCullough’s opponent in the primary race.
“On behalf of my client, Judge Patricia A. McCullough, I have issued cease and desist letters to the Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC), and her opponent regarding the false, malicious and scurrilous attack ads airing against Judge McCullough,” a May 8 statement from Samuel C. Stretton’s law office said.
Stretton’s statement rejects any claims that McCullough accepts campaign donations from lawyers or lobbyists, “because she is not beholden to anyone and wants people to know that only the Constitution, the rule of law and the parties seeking justice are before her in the courtroom.”
Last year, McCullough joined two other Republican commonwealth judges – Mary Hannah Leavitt and Christine Fizzano Cannon – in ruling that the states no-excuse mail voting policy was unconstitutional.
Act 77 and mail-in voting has been a contentious issue within the state’s republican party, with one state representative claiming that party leadership instructed him to refrain from drawing attention to Act 77 and the lawsuits surrounding it.
McCullough’s campaign website notes that she has been endorsed by the Gun Owners of America (GOA) and the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation. There is also an endorsement quote attributed to State Sen. Doug Mastriano: “Our freedoms are under attack. We need judges who stand up for the Constitution. Judge Patricia McCullough is a defender of our constitution and exactly who we need on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. It is my honor to endorse Judge Patricia McCullough for PA Supreme Court.”
According to Stretton, McCullough represents a threat to the “elite of any party that seeks to impose their will on the people of Pennsylvania.”
McCullough is running against Carolyn Carluccio, who received the Republican Party’s endorsement in February, edging out McCullough and Paula Patrick.
According to Main Line Today, Carluccio, a Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas Judge, said she was “thrilled” to officiate a same sex “wedding” in 2014.
“It was the most emotional wedding I’ve done,” Carluccio is reported as saying in the Main Line Today article. “I was thrilled to be part of that.”
Wow way to blow the editing of a headline.
Thanks for reading and pointing that out!