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Top GOP senator says he favors swearing in Democrat Williams

Lindsey Williams

HARRISBURG, Pa. — HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The top-ranking Republican in the Pennsylvania Senate says he favors seating a Democrat who won an Allegheny County race last month now that he's looked into questions about the woman's residency.

President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati issued a statement Friday that said he will recommend that Lindsey Williams be sworn in along with other new members on Tuesday.

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Williams' fate has been up in the air while Republicans seek details about whether she meets a state constitutional requirement that senators be "citizens and inhabitants" of Pennsylvania for four years before they're elected.

Williams has said she stayed with Pittsburgh-area friends in 2014 and made plans to move to that city in time to meet the constitutional requirement.

The 35-year-old Williams defeated Republican Jeremy Shaffer by fewer than 800 votes for the District 38 seat.

"While these last few weeks have been stressful for me personally, the Republican caucus and its leadership has been extremely fair and thorough in their evaluation of the situation," Williams said in a statement. "I appreciate their professionalism and efficiency in bringing this matter to a close as quickly as possible so that I can get to work doing the job I was elected to do for the people of District 38."

See Scarnati's full statement below:

Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati (R-25) announced today that he will recommend that Senator-elect Lindsey Williams should be seated when new members of the Senate are sworn in on January 1, 2019.

Ongoing concerns about the timing of the move of Senator-elect Williams to Pennsylvania prompted Senator Scarnati to send two letters dated November 29, 2018 and December 20, 2018, requesting that the Senator-elect provide justification of her move to Pennsylvania in 2014.

Today, in a letter to the Senator-elect Williams, Senator Scarnati noted that the residency provision of the Pennsylvania Constitution (Article II, section 5) has not been fully vetted by the courts and that no precise constitutional definition of residency exists.

Scarnati explained that during the analysis of the information Ms. Williams submitted, he presumed the materials to be truthful. Scarnati said he will recommend Senator-elect Williams be seated, however he also noted that the issue could be revisited on the Senate floor if other documents are obtained that show conflicting information from the documents Senator-elect Williams provided.

 

Associated Press

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