PA-7: Rep. Meehan Resigns

On Friday, Pennsylvania Rep. Pat Meehan (R-Chadds Ford) resigned his seat effective immediately.  Rep. Meehan had already announced he is not seeking re-election after it became public that a severance settlement was made from the controversial taxpayer funded congressional account.  The House Ethics Committee was about to begin an investigation, which now becomes moot considering that Mr. Meehan is no longer in Congress.  He said he will refund the $39,000 settlement within 30 days.
 
Now that the old 7th District is vacant, Gov. Tom Wolf (D) will be forced to call a special election even though this district will largely dissipate under the new court-mandated congressional boundaries.  While Gov. Wolf has no latitude about calling the election within ten days after the vacancy becomes official (last Friday), he does have wide ranging authority about when such a vote will occur.  Therefore, he could schedule the contest concurrent with the regular general election.  This will likely be his course of action for the 15th District special election that will also be required when Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Allentown) resigns in May.

--Jim Ellis