The challenge of a candidate's petition to stop him from appearing on the primary ballot for a state House seat has been upheld in Dauphin County Court.
Christopher Bain, 40, of Williamsport, said the decision will not prevent him from seeking the Republican nomination for the 83rd state House seat.
"I'm definitely going forward," Bain said.
He said if he does not appeal the court decision, he'll at least stage a write-in to run against Republican Harry Rogers.
At this point, he's not quite sure of an appeal.
"I'm checking around to see if it's worth it," he said.
Bain's attorney, Joe Orso, indicated that an appeal could be successful.
He maintained that the court decision could have gone either way, but the judge chose to apply a very strict ruling.
"I think there's arguments," he said. "It's (an appeal) up to Chris."
According to court documents, Bain's gathered more than the required 300 signatures needed for a valid nominating petition.
However, many of the names were nullified for various reasons.
During a recent hearing process it was found that 29 of 321 signatures were in question.
Eighteen signatures, for example, were thrown out when addresses did not match those in voter registration records.
Three signatures were found to be duplicates and two others were nullified because the names were printed rather than signed.
The official ruling came Tuesday.
"I guess I blame myself for being a little lazy and not getting 600 or 800 signatures," Bain said. "If the (legislative) redistricting would have been in place, I would have had that many."
But Bain said he couldn't use names that he picked up in municipalities which would have been part of the 83rd Legislative District had the state's redistricting plan been upheld.
Bain, however, also thinks he is the victim of dirty politics.
"I had no clue that someone would stoop so low as to challenge my petitions," he said.
He said his decision to remain a candidate, even as a write-in, will serve as challenge to Rogers.
Rogers did not reply with comment for this story.
The names of Nicki Collins and Anthony Kelley appeared as objectors in the court filing.
Collins did not respond to a phone message left in her office.
