Cavanagh, Mahoney trade accusations
Michael Cavanagh dropped off at letter at the office of Fayette County District Attorney Jack R. Heneks Jr. Friday, asking his office to investigate state Rep. Tim Mahoney, D-South Union Township, for election fraud.
Mahoney, meanwhile, denied all the charges, claiming he was only following instructions from the Fayette County Election Bureau.
Cavanagh, a Uniontown resident, said he was told by the Fayette County Election Board Thursday to have Heneks investigate his allegations.
“The matter is of great importance to the people of Fayette County. I was very encouraged that the Fayette County Election Board asked that this matter be referred to your office. I trust all the information will be promptly sent to your office and you certainly would have complete access to” Judge Ralph C. Warman’s opinion, wrote Cavanagh in his letter.
On Thursday, Cavanagh and Mahoney traded allegations of impropriety when Mahoney introduced findings from a private investigator who uncovered dozens of allegedly forged signatures on Cavanagh’s nomination petitions, submitted to run against Mahoney in the April primary.
Cavanagh, who has a felony record for insurance fraud, was thrown off the ballot by the Commonwealth Court, and the state Supreme Court affirmed the decision.
In his letter, Cavanagh noted that Warman ruled Mahoney’s proposed referendum could not appear on the ballot and that Mahoney acknowledged in court he did not circulate the petitions himself, even though he signed it saying he did so. Cavanagh also said that Mahoney’s circulator affidavits for the referendum petition were actually altered circulator affidavits for his nomination petitions for election.
Mahoney said during an election board meeting that he hired a private investigator who talked to 40 of the people whose signatures appeared on Cavanagh’s petitions.
The investigator, Lee England, found that none of the people he approached said they signed the petition. Of those, 27 were willing to sign affidavits, and the other 13 did not want to get further involved, Mahoney said.
Cavanagh has said he did not forge any signatures on petitions. He said others circulated them, and although he signed an affidavit saying he circulated them, Cavanagh acknowledged he did not. He said that those who circulate petitions for candidates are often harassed by incumbents, and he wanted to avoid that.
Also in his letter to Heneks, Cavanagh said that Mahoney used his state office to circulate the petitions for the referendum.
“We all know another representative that has been prosecuted and found guilty of using office staff and resources for election-related matters,” Cavanagh said, referring to ex-Greene County legislator Bill DeWeese, who is serving 2 ½ to 5 years for using state-paid staff to do campaign tasks for his re-election.
Mahoney said Cavanagh’s take is off-base.
“It’s not a petition, it’s a ballot question, and I did it from a referendum handbook that the state of Pennsylvania had out,” Mahoney said. “It wasn’t a political campaign. I was trying to get 140,000 people a choice in how we educate and how we fund our school districts in Fayette County.”
Mahoney said he was following the instructions that the county’s election bureau and its solicitor gave him to complete the process to get on the referendum.
He also said he was told of a 1999 referendum handbook authored under then-Gov. Ed Rendell. A section in that handbook, referenced by bureau solicitor Sheryl Heid, indicates that, “While the person actually circulating the petition does not have to be the signer of the affidavit, the signer must have personal knowledge of the facts being sworn to.”
“Even their solicitor said that I followed the rules in this referendum. If two people didn’t challenge this action, we would be looking at a different way to educate kids with money,” Mahoney said.
Mahoney said his goal was to change the law to avoid layoffs, cutting programs and closing schools — things he said have been necessitated under the state’s tight budget.
Meanwhile, attorney Benjamin Goodwin said he was upset that his name had apparently been forged on one of Cavanagh’s petitions.
“It was unsettling to learn that my identity was stolen, and my signature forged on Mr. Cavanagh’s nominating petition. I have never met Mr. Cavanagh, and before learning of the petition, had never heard of him,” Goodwin said. “It’s unfortunate that certain individuals feel the need to abuse the democratic process and violate the rights of others in order to advance their own agenda.”