PLEASE READ ALL OF THE INFO BELOW.  THIS INFORMATION IS ABOUT A PERSON TRYING TO USE THE TEA PARTY NAME AS A CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR OF PENNSYLVANIA

THERE IS ALOT OF INFORMATION TO DIGEST.  IF ANY OF YOU WOULD LIKE A DOWNLABLE COPY, PLEASE EMAIL ME AND I WILL SEND YOU A COPY OF THE INFORMATION ON JOHN KRUPA AND HIS CIRCULATORS

Last week, a man named John Krupa filed nomination papers with the PA Department of State to run as a "Tea Party" candidate for Governor!  As you know, I have attended many Tea Party events all across PA and the country and I am in contact with many of the Pennsylvania grassroots organizations.  No one has heard of the guy.  I was completely stunned to learn of this information.  When I heard he had filed as an alleged member of the Tea Party, I decided to take a closer look at his nomination papers.  And what I found was the most shocking and it was deeply troubling.  Mr. Krupa's nomination papers were littered with circulators who DO NOT share our value and principles!  Krupa's petitions had more than 20 individuals who are closely aligned with anti-free market Unions!  Additionally, there are 20 more individuals that are closely aligned with the Dan Onorato for Governor Campaign and other major Democratic establishment insiders!  

Despite only having to add a candidate for the US Senate on these papers, no such candidate was added!  Nor was a candidate added for Lieutenant Governor, which is in violation of the Commonwealth of PA Constitution!  It has become very clear that this is nothing more than an effort planned and executed by Dan Onorato's campaign to get a 3rd Party candidate on the ballot and confuse the voters in an attempt to hijack the Tea Party name and save his campaign. This is a dishonest tactic that we will not allow to stand. 

We cannot let all of the efforts and hard twork that we have done be stolen by Dan Onorato's campaign in a disgusting political tactic!  I smell cheese and the Pittsburgh Tribune called him a"OnoRATo" for attempting this effort!  This has major implications for the Tea Party moving forward---if this Onorato (sponsored) Tea Party candidate, once on the ballot for the General Election 2010 receives 2% of the vote this year, he and his five-person self-identified Committee, who are also not Tea Party organizers, will be able to nominate "Tea Party" candidates in Pennsylvania for the next four years!  Understanding these consequences, I knew action needed to be taken for our Tea Party movement!  We have worked too hard to have Dan Onorato or anyone else steal our movement. Monday August 9 I along with three other activists filed an objection to John Krupa"s nomination papers. Wednesday, we were made aware that our petition challenge would begin in court on August 17th, 2010.  However, before we get to court, both sides of the challenge and now I am required to go through each signature being challenged one-by-one.  This exhaustive effort will begin on Friday and continue through the weekend.  I am extremely confident that our challenges will be successful and we will prevent the hijacking of the Tea Party name by Dan Onorato or anyone!


Look through some of the research below for the background of this case.  The information contained will provide you with specific points about our challenge and detail the connections between the circulators and Dan Onorato and other high-profile Democratic officials.  There may be some good intended people who were involved in the process, but its clear, the vast majority of these people did not have good intentions and have tried to undermine the Democratic process!
I will keep you updated as the case proceeds.
Thanks,
Diana

PETITION FILED TO CHALLENGE TEA PARTY CANDIDATE

  Tea Party Gubernatorial Candidate Files Signatures To Appear On Ballot
In order to be eligible to be on the ballot, a 3rd Party or Independent candidate needs to submit 19,082 valid signatures to the Department of State by August 9th, 2010.  Last week, John Krupa filed nominating papers containing 24,011 signatures to run for Governor as the supposed "Tea Party" candidate. However, as I outline above, the FACTS prove that Krupa is nothing more than a straw candidate for Dan Onorato, the Democratic Party and the unions, who are trying to use the Tea Party movement for their own political gain!

Who is John Krupa?  
John Krupa was the gubernatorial candidate for the Constitutional Party this year.  He was endorsed by the Constitutional Party on March 27th, 2010.  However, when the Constitutional Party abandoned their effort to circulate signatures on the ticket's behalf, Krupa got involved with Onorato's efforts to get a 3rd Party challenger on the ballot.  The evidence collected proves that this is a desperate scheme executed by the Onorato Campaign to split the Republican vote.  John Krupa is NOT recognized as a member or candidate of the Tea Party. 

Krupa's Nominating Petitions Challenged 
On Monday, August 9th, 2010, I, Diana Reimer, submitted a challenge to Krupa's nomination papers.  As the Pennsylvania Coordinator of the Tea Party Patriots, I have been heavily involved with the Tea Party and help coordinate activities with hundreds of similar groups all over the Commonwealth and in the country.  Despite my vast involvement in the Tea Party network that reaches from Erie to Philadelphia, I was UNAWARE of this effort to circulate petitions for a Tea Party candidate for governor.  In fact, I didn't even know who John Krupa was until he filed his nomination papers with the Pennsylvania Department of State.  After realizing that Krupa was a product of the Democratic establishment, I recruited others to join me in filing the challenge to remove Krupa's name from the ballot and to protect our Tea Party name from being misused.

 Krupa Nomination Papers Riddled With Errors
The challenge filed against John Krupa's nomination papers contain a significant number of global and signature challenges.  After a detailed search line-by-line of each of his signatures, we found 18,417 unique challenges to his nearly 24,011 signatures.  In total, 37, 361total objections to Krupa's signatures were filed from our attorney.  These were fatal errors, including nearly 1,000 duplicate signatures, more than 11 thousand people who were not registered to vote, forgeries, fraud, etc.  We are completely confident that his papers will be set aside and his name will be removed from the ballot due to the many defective signatures that his papers contained. 
Onorato/Democratic Operatives Circulate Petitions For Krupa
A closer look at John Krupa's circulators shows that they are littered with Democratic and union operatives, many with close ties to Onorato.  In total we found that 20 Democratic operatives had direct ties to Onorato or other high-ranking Democratic officials.  Our research also found that 25 union operatives were also heavily involved with the circulation of these petitions (below outline many of them).  Of the nearly 24,000 signatures collected, we found that 11,981 came from the city of Philadelphia and another 5,200 came from the city of Pittsburgh.  Nearly 2/3 of the signatures collected were obtained in Pennsylvania's two largest urban areas of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh and counties where Democrats grossly outnumber registered Republicans and are not predominantly known as the hotbed of Tea Party activity. 

 Local Newspaper Interviews Krupa Circulators (Union workers with close ties to Onorato)
This week, local newspapers started to follow up on our claims that Krupa was nothing more than a straw candidate for the Onorato campaign.  The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Pittsburgh Tribune attempted to track down Krupa circulators who had close ties to Onorato.  Many of the union officials who did circulate refused to speak about their involvement with the Krupa campaign.  One union worker, Gregory Vogt of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 5, did answer questions about his involvement.  However, he declined to say that he was supporting the Krupa candidacy and explained his involvement was just something he did in his spare time.  However, one should note that Onorato kicked off his campaign and celebrated his Primary night victory in Vogt's union hall in Pittsburgh.
Onorato's No Friend Of Tea Party
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dan Onorato attempted to get a straw candidate on the ballot using the Tea Party name in a desperate attempt to influence the outcome of the upcoming election.  Dan Onorato is the antithesis of what the Tea Party movement stands for, as he has served as a loyal cheerleader to the tax-and-spend policies of current Governor Ed Rendell.  Additionally, Onorato stands in favor of the government-run health care bill, backed the stimulus bill, and is best known for implementing a 10% drink tax in Allegheny County to help fund a gap in the county's Port Authority budget.  This is referred to as the "Onorato Tax," making him the first candidate in Pennsylvania history to run with a tax named after him.  Obviously not a Tea Party principle!
Additional Information on the circulators below:
 

 

DEMOCRATIC CAMPAIGN OPERATIVES

 Democratic Campaign Operatives
1.       Heather Damron  - collected 255 signatures for Krupa
a.       Political expenditures received:  $1,000 from Onorato for Governor on 3/24/10 for Services Rendered - petition drive
b.      Circulated nomination petitions for Dan Onorato; netted 115 signatures
 
2.       Juanita Ramos - collected 88 signatures for Krupa
a.       Political expenditures received: $390 from Committee to Elect Tony Payton (who has served as an Onorato surrogate) for canvassing on 3/14/08, $720 from the same committee for "pay" on 4/4/08
3.       Dolores Mazzuca - collected 40 signatures for Krupa
a.       Political expenditures received: $30 on 8/26/09 from Friends of Dan Onorato for "reimbursable meal expense" 
 
4.       Joseph Pinkney - collected 442 signatures for Krupa
a.       Circulated nomination petitions for Dan Onorato; netted 149 signatures
 
5.       Stanifia Taylor - collected 632 signatures for Krupa
a.       Taylor has a theft by deception charge and a receiving stolen property charge from November 2005.  Taylor was granted ARD in August 2006.  A disorderly conduct charge from June 2007 shows an active docket on publicly available records. 
b.      Political expenditures received:  $490 from Anthony Williams for Governor on 5/13/10, $405 on 5/10/10)

7.       Ramona Whaley - collected 477 signatures for Krupa
a.       Political expenditures received:  $435 from Anthony Williams for governor on 5/10/10, $490 on 5/13/10
 
8.       Tyrone Wilson - collected 40 signatures for Krupa
a.       Political expenditures received:  $305 from Anthony Williams for Governor for field canvassing on 5/10/10
9.       Taheera Edmond - collected 280 signatures for Krupa
a.       Political expenditures received:  $490 from Anthony Williams for Governor for field canvassing on 5/13/10, $320 on 5/7/10
10.   Katherine Gardner - collected 525 signatures for Krupa
a.       Political expenditures received:  $235 on 5/10/10, $490 on 5/13/10 from Anthony Williams for Governor
11.   Brett Butts - collected 13 signatures for Krupa 
a.       Political expenditures received:  Multiple canvassing fees in 2008 from Friends of Lawrence Farnese
12.   Don Trotz - collected 40 signatures for Krupa
a.       Political expenditures received:  $4,500 from Committee to Elect Bryan Barbin for poll workers in April and October of 2008 and Onorato backer
13.   Peter Vizza - collected 40 signatures for Krupa
a.       Political expenditures received:  $100 from Committee to Elect Bryan Barbin for photography on 9/16/08 and Onorato backer
14.   James Morrison - collected 157 signatures for Krupa
a.       Political expenditures received: $75 on 4/22/08 and $50 on 5/13/09 from the West Phila. Dem. Club for services as an election day worker. 
 
15.   Jeff Miller - collected 239 signatures for Krupa
a.       Political expenditures received:  $60 from Campaign Committee for Richard Kasunic on 5/15/10 for being a poll worker, $75 from Friends of Vincent Vicites for being a poll worker on 5/16/07 and 11/3/07
b.      Business agent for IBEW Local #5 (http://www.ibew5.org/officers/officestaff.htm)
16.   Susan Wilson - collected 360 signatures for Krupa
a.       Political expenditures received: $75 on 5/17/07 from Friends of Vincent Vicites  for being a poll worker
 
 
17.   Samuel Wells - collected 158 signatures for Krupa
a.       Political expenditures received: $100 from West Phila. Dem Club on 5/15/07 for "election day worker"
18.   Steve Jaffe - collected 33 signatures for Krupa
a.       Political expenditures received: $100 for "election expenses" on 5/17/10 from Ward 58 Dem. Committee of Philadelphia
 
19.   James Johnson: - collected 55 signatures for Krupa
a.       Political expenditures received:  $50 for working polls from CWA Local 13000 on 12/12/07, $150 for GOTV on 4/19/08 from Ward 31 PAC Dem. Committee, $100 from Friends of Ward 21 for election day expenses on 11/7/07 and $125 on 3/28/08 for "expense" from Committee to Elect Bill Keller. 
 
20.   Robert Kutz - collected 40 signatures for Krupa
a.       A "member of the county Democratic Committee and a spokesman for organized labor."  (http://www.altoonamirror.com/page/content.detail/id/529191.html?nav=742)
 
Union Operatives
 
1.       Anthony DeStefano:
a.       Business manager of IUPAT District Council 57 (http://www.dc57.org/staff.html)
 
2.       Ronald Kozain:
a.       Apprenticeship and Training for IUPAT District Council 57 (http://www.dc57.org/staff.html)
3.       Gregory Vogt: 
a.       Political expenditures received:  $279.32 total from a series of expense payments from Local 5 IBEW PAC from 2007 through 2009. 
b.      Prevailing wage investigator for IBEW Local #5 (http://www.ibew5.org/officers/officestaff.htm)
 
4.       Sam Prodonovich:
a.       Representative for Painters Local 530 (http://www.pabuildingtrades.org/PrintUnions.aspx?Username=pabctc&zone=General&print=1) 
b.      President of IUPAT District Council 57 (http://www.dc57.org/staff.html)
5.       Gerald Heck: 
a.       Political expenditures received:  $150 from Local 0044 Sheetmetal Workers Political Action League on 3/24/10, description is "building construction trades dept."; $125 on the same date, description: "political education fund B.C.T.D." 
b.      Busines Manager for Sheet Metal Workers Local 44 (http://www.pabuildingtrades.org/PrintUnions.aspx?Username=pabctc&zone=General&print=1)
 
6.       James Beamer:
a.       Business manager for IBEW Local #812 (http://www.neca-pdj.org/partnering/ibew.cfm, http://www.unions.org/home/v-32091-38-IBEW-.htm)
 
7.       James Saeler:
a.       Busines agent for IBEW Local #5 (http://www.ibew5.org/officers/officestaff.htm)
 
8.       Barry Turner:
a.       Business representative for Local #2006, staff member of IUPAT District Council 57 (http://www.dc57.org/staff.html)
 
9.       Robert Kutz:   
a.       A "member of the county Democratic Committee and a spokesman for organized labor."  (http://www.altoonamirror.com/page/content.detail/id/529191.html?nav=742)

10.   James Johnson:  *
a.       Political expenditures received:  $50 for working polls from CWA Local 13000 on 12/12/07, $150 for GOTV on 4/19/08  from Ward 31 PAC Dem. Committee, $100 from Friends of Ward 21 for election day expenses on 11/7/07 and $125 on 3/28/08 for "expense" from Committee to Elect Bill Keller. 
11.   Giles Grinko: 
a.       Political expenditures received:  $493.70 on 3/20/08 for signs paid by Committee to Elect Matthew Ellenberger
b.      Contributed $250 annually to IUPAT from 2005-08
c.       Member of IUPAT and of the Executive Board of the Northwestern Pennsylvania Area Labor Federation, AFL-CIO (http://pa.aflcio.org/nwpaalf/?action=article&articleid=d895cd86-a843-4b30-81a1-efbfad17d137) 


12.   Jeff Miller:
a.       Political expenditures received:  $60 from Campaign Committee for Richard Kasunic on 5/15/10 for being a poll worker, $75 from Friends of Vincent Vicites for being a poll worker on 5/16/07 and 11/3/07
b.      Business agent for IBEW Local #5 (http://www.ibew5.org/officers/officestaff.htm)
 
13.   Ryan Thurber:
a.       Member of IBEW Local #5 (http://www.ibew5.org/pdfs/0108.pdf)
 
14.   Robert Allen:
a.       Business agent for Iron Workers Local Union No. 3 (http://iwlocal3.com/aboutus_officers.aspx)
 
15.   Donald Pickle:
a.       Field rep for Bricklayers & Allied Craftworker Local No. 5 (http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/4/263941)
Miscellaneous Data
1.       Tamika C. Anderson:
a.       Lien filed against her on 4/30/10 in the amount of $9,645 by JP Morgan Chase Bank.
 
2.       Sharon D. Foster Wise: Age 50:
a.        $85 lien against her filed in 2004 by the Philadelphia Housing Authority, related to an eviction proceeding. 
b.      Another filed against her in 1994 by American Pioneer for $1,513, which was satisfied. 
c.       Another filed against her in 1993 by the Philadelphia Adult Probation Department for $5,100. 
 
3.       Christopher Zampogna: 
a.       Husband of Jennifer; Zampognas were charged by with controlled substance violations in June 2007 by the Office of Attorney General.    (http://www.attorneygeneral.gov/press.aspx?id=2664)
 
4.       Jim Barr: 
a.       Political expenditures received: $165 on 8/25/07 from the Constitution Party of Penna. for "event exp. Reimb. State comm.. mtg" 
 
5.       Jude Mandarano:
a.       Was written in (once) as a democratic candidate for judge in Scranton in November 2009.  (http://www.lackawannacounty.org/election%20results/110309/write_ins_110309.pdf)
 
6.       Justin C. Shupp:
a.       DOB 4/26/1988.  Was charged with possession with intent to deliver or manufacture a counterfeit or controlled substance, knowing/intentional possession of a controlled or counterfeit controlled substance, and use/possession of drug paraphernalia in February 2007.  Shupp was sentenced to 8 to 23 months confinement in January 2008.  A petition for a parole violation hearing was withdrawn in April 2010.   
 
7.       Wendell Wilson:
a.       Indicted for possession of 5.87 grams crack cocaine:  (http://www.justice.gov/usao/pae/News/Pr/2007/apr/wilson.html; circulator and press release addresses are identical)
 
 

 
.

Sincerely,

Diana

Diana Reimer

National Coordinator and PA State Coordinator 

Tea Party Patriots

philatppatriots@gmail.com

Co-Founder 

Philadelphia Tea Party Patriots

www.philateapartypatriots.com 

215-361-3094 h

267-446-7124 c