Greensburg, Pennsylvania — Another elected GOP Committee Person has been removed, following a failed appeal yesterday.
And, Nancy Pleskovitch of Ligioner (Westmoreland County) believes she was wrongfully removed, following a vote of the Executive Committee meeting of the Westmoreland County Republican Committee (WCRC) Tuesday night.
Following the meeting, she took to social media and did not mince her words: “This tactic was used to bully and intimidate all county committee members!”
Pleskovitch needed 2/3rds – of the 32 votes present – in her favor to remain on committee; she nabbed 20 votes, while 12 were against her. One vote could have made the difference in her favor.
Pleskovitch took to social media Wednesday morning to highlight a point of controversy in the secret “voting” process. “I WOULD HAVE WON HAD PROXIES NOT BEEN INCLUDED IN THE VOTE.” (Her emphasis added)
A “proxy” is a stand-in, in substitution of a sitting executive committee member, who couldn’t attend. In Pleskovitch’s words, proxies should not be counted on an appeal because the sending person (the actual member) has already made up their mind without hearing the appeal; or had their mind made up by someone else.
In Pleskovitch’s case, of the 32 votes present, eleven (11) were proxies. Six members of the WCRC Executive Committee abstained via no-show and/or no proxies.
Pleskovitch said a convicting moment for the Executive Committee came when she posed this question of the voting members: “I asked them all to give me the definition of ‘opposing or about to oppose the Republican Party’ (in our Bylaws).. and all were silent; because it is subjective based on the WHIM! of the presiding Chairperson.”
While Pleskovitch is no longer a CP, she is still part of the WCRC Executive Committee as a state PA GOP Committee Member, with full voting rights. There is no indication yet that Pleskovitch is at risk of losing her elected PA GOP State Committee title, for which she earned 15,313 votes in her county, in May 2022.
In Pennsylvania, the next round of elections for local Committee People and state Committee People is May 2026. Those elections are held every four years and these positions influence the agenda of the local & state GOP.
Background:
Pleskovitch of Ligioner (Westmoreland County) received word April 25th that she will be removed from her elected Committee Person position, within the Westmoreland County Republican Committee (WCRC).
The letter, signed by WCRC Solicitor John M. Hauser, III, read:
“Following this investigation, it was concluded that you did openly campaign for non-endorsed candidates, against endorsed candidates and this behavior not only undermines the endorsed candidates, but also contravenes the WCRC Bylaws, which seek to ensure unity and support for endorsed candidates.
“Therefore, this correspondence shall serve as official notification of your removal from the WCRC for violation of Rules 1.2 and 1.3 of the WCRC bylaws.”
The investigation revolved around Pleskovitch’s support of unendorsed statewide candidates:Commonwealth Court Candidate Joshua Prince and Superior Court Candidate Maria Battista, by circulating their nomination petitions and promoting their campaigns on her social media.
Pleskovitch contended that the WCRC Bylaws 1.2 and 1.3 only require her to support WCRC-endorsed candidates – and Pleskovitch affirmed she was bylaw-abiding – to that point. She said the WCRC did not endorse for statewide offices at its March 15th convention, and so the charges brought against her are technically outside of WCRC’s “jurisdiction.”
Harrisburg100 