Huntington Republicans Drop Campaign Challenge

Posted by Jeff Pruitt - 7/15/08 @ 2:25 pm - Filed Under 2008 Local Elections, Local Politics

In a shocking display of democratic idealism the Republican Huntington county chairwoman, Pam Updike, has pulled her election board challenge in regards to Gary Snyder’s county council candidacy. If you want the background on her frivolous challenge then you can read my previous post on the topic.

While this decision should be applauded, a previous ethical lapse from Updike should still be noted. Updike sent a scathing letter to Snyder chastising him for his behavior at a Republican event but the problem was she sent it from her official city e-mail address - clearly a no-no.

While it does show poor judgment it may technically not be illegal. Federal employees are prevented from such behavior via the Hatch Act and state employees via the Political Activity Rule. However, I didn’t find a specific ordinance governing local officials…

Comments

3 Responses to “Huntington Republicans Drop Campaign Challenge”

  1. James Mitchell on July 15th, 2008 4:12 pm

    Check the info on State & Local Hatch Act at the Website provided

  2. Jeff Pruitt on July 15th, 2008 5:04 pm

    Thank you for the link. I found a document there that states:

    Hatch Act provisions do not apply to:
    2) the mayor of a city;

    Seeing that Updike is the executive assistant to the mayor I would interpret that to mean she is not covered…

  3. Gary Schepp on July 15th, 2008 11:04 pm

    Whether she might be subject to either Hatch Acts is really immaterial. Legal activities still must be performed on their own time and without the use of government property. They cannot perform any political activity while they are on government time.

    It would fall under Title 35 Criminal Law and Procedure

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