If Pennsylvania is indeed becoming a late-charging battleground state, the presence of Libertarian Gary Johnson on the ballot could be a factor in the effort by Republican Mitt Romney to upset Democrat Barack Obama there.
Commonwealth Court Senior Judge James G. Colins ruled Wednesday that the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania has filed nominating petitions containing more than the required 20,601 valid signatures and that the entire slate of statewide Libertarian candidates will remain on the Nov. 6 general election ballot.
The ruling was a stinging defeat for Republicans who waged a grueling and expensive 9-week battle to force their Libertarian Party competition off the November ballot.
“It is a travesty of the democratic process that Libertarians were required to endure such a drawn-out, expensive and unnecessary attack on their right to be on the ballot. Voters in every state deserve real choices in this election, and it is clear that the Republican Party, not only in Pennsylvania, but in key states across the country, will go to any lengths to keep liberty, nonintervention and smaller government off the ballot,” Johnson said in a statement.