Harrisburg, Pennsylvania — PA GOP Chair candidate Bill Bachenberg and PA GOP Vice Chair candidate Lynne Ryan issued a joint statement, to all PA GOP State Committee members, in response to Commonwealth Court candidate Joshua Prince’s call to pledge integrity and follow a private voting process, in light of his pre-endorsement vote experience, chronicled in Harrisburg100’s article, “Allegations.. ahead of PAGOP mtg.” Bachenberg and Ryan took it a step further, calling for “serialized paper ballots,” and inviting members to join them in that demand.
In their Wednesday night email to the full state committee, leaked to Harrisburg100 this morning, Bachenberg and Ryan addressed what they called: “political maneuvering and misinformation” as the PA GOP leadership race has heated up. “These tactics must stop,” they wrote in the email.
Among the “tactics” they’ve cited were:
- Some committee chairmen are threatening members with retribution if they don’t vote for certain candidates.
- Last week, a caucus chairman offered to trade the favor of re-installing a county chairman for their vote for Sen. (Greg) Rothman.
- Powerful Southeast figures are telling individuals to stop communicating with their committee members, suppressing discussion and transparency.
- Powerful Southeast figures are demanding that all Southeast members vote as a “bloc” to maintain their “control of the party”— “But the party belongs to all of us, not just one region,” wrote Bachenberg and Ryan.
Bachenberg along with Ryan pledged to introduce a formal “Statement of Ethics” to ensure transparency. “It will be the policy of the PAGOP to conduct the organization’s business in an honest and forthright manner,” he wrote, referencing PAGOP employees. “There will also be Committee Member Ethics standards.”
To ensure fairness and transparency, Bachenberg and Ryan are calling for the use of serialized paper ballots – “for all races at the February 8th State Committee Meeting and in all future elections… demand paper ballots,” they wrote.
In direct response to Prince’s prompt, Bachenberg and Ryan clearly stated: “(We) would like to go on the record that (we) have not promised ANY: current or past leader, committee chairman, committee member, current or future politician, vendor or consultant — a future job, a future position, a future contract, or preferred treatment, or the promise of future funding or endorsements.”
Their email ended with a question: “Will our opponents make the same pledge?”
OTHER STATE COMMITTEE MEMBERS PUBLICLY REACT TO PA GOP CONTROVERSY:
Guy Berkebile, Chairman of the Somerset County Republican Committee, shared that he emailed the PAGOP Chairman Lawrence Tabas to express similar experiences with Cambria County Chairwoman Jackie Kulback, following Prince’s revelation. “The …accusations against Kulback are behaviors I have been subjected to numerous times, primarily in the last gubernatorial and senate elections. I know (Tabas) is aware of these actions by (Kulback). … If needed, I will testify to these behaviors in a hearing.”
Charlotte Shaffer, Adams County Republican Chairwoman, also took to penning an email to Tabas, that she also shared on social media. “Given the toxic environment and blatant intimidation tactics at play I am formally demanding that all elections conducted at the Republican Party of Pennsylvania’s State Committee Meeting on Feb. 8, 2025 be held using secret paper ballots. Election Integrity starts at home.”
PA GOP state committee members and/or candidates are welcome to send their public statements to Harrisburg100 on this issue, we will keep an ongoing list of public/submitted statements. Email: info@hbg100.com
Harrisburg100 
If the US can put a serial number on every dollar bill. Why can’t a serial number be put on every ballot?
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Rick Rathfon, Chairman of the Clarion County Republican Committee. These “back door deals” and intimidation tactics being employed for this Chairmans race are disgraceful and need to stop immediately! The Republican Party had a huge victory on November 5 electing Donald J. Trump as the 47th President of the United States and Dave McCormick defeating do nothing Senator Bob Casey. We need to maintain a high standard of integrity in our State Party and instead if these people drag our party into the Swamp we may lose races in 2026 and beyond! Our party preached “Election Integrity” in 2024 so we must have secret paper ballots on February 8 to ensure that State Committee members can feel free to vote for their preferred candidate and not one they are forced to vote for out of fear of reprisal!
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