POTTSVILLE -- The primary elections are just two weeks away and one race for a county row office in Schuylkill County has a candidate calling foul on his opponent.
The man looking to unseat the current Register of Wills filed a complaint with the District Attorney's Office Monday.
With the primary elections only two weeks away, the race for one row office in Schuylkill County is feeling the pressure.
“There`s the seal and nowhere on this document anywhere does it have that it was paid for by Friends of Theresa Gaffney.”
Kerry Ansbach is the Republican challenger looking to unseat Republican incumbent Theresa Santai Gaffney from the Office of Register of Wills.
He believes she violated election rules by passing a pamphlet from her office out at a campaign event last month.
“She was passing it out at a political rally. She wasn`t passing it out at a nursing home,” said Ansbach. “She was using it for her own, to put her name out there.”
Ansbach sent a letter to the Schuylkill County District Attorney saying the pamphlet did not have a “paid for” disclaimer on it.
The pamphlet appeared to be something “…she would use in her official capacity…” as register of wills “...and should not be used for political purposes…”
“Anything that we put out when we`re running for office has to have a disclaimer who paid for it and the only thing that it says on that document is that Schuylkill County paid for it, taxpayers,” said Ansbach.
“This is a political ploy by my opponent and my conscience is clear,” said Gaffney.
Gaffney says she always hands out those pamphlets at any event she attends.
“This is strictly for educational purposes. Wherever I go, I have these in my vehicle. We have a table at the county fair, when I give my tours, when I speak anywhere,” said Gaffney.
She says she has separate campaign fliers for her re-election campaign and she says the pamphlets from her office could not be construed as political ads.
“This does not have 'elect,' 'reelect,' or anything pertaining to the election,” said Gaffney.
The Schuylkill County District Attorney says she sent the complaint to the State Attorney General`s Office to avoid any conflicts of interest since she knows the Register of Wills and was at the political event mentioned in the complaint.