Westmoreland clerk of courts wants county GOP leader to return Tim Murphy donation
Bryan Kline is taking a swipe at his opponent in his race to replace state Rep. Eli Evankovich for accepting a campaign contribution from former U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy.
Kline, the Westmoreland County clerk of courts, is running against Michael Korns in the May 15 primary to replace Evankovich, a Murrysville Republican who represents the 54th state House District. Evankovich is not seeking re-election.
Korns is chairman of the county's Republican committee and has a law practice in Greensburg. Kline has served two terms as clerk of courts.
Both men live in Murrysville.
“Michael Korns should get rid of disgraced Congressman Tim Murphy's donation immediately, and, considering Murphy's behavior, I believe it would be most appropriate to donate those funds to a pro-life charity,” Kline said. “Raising money and winning elections is critical, but we have to campaign with honor.
“Taking funds from a phony pro-life conservative is unacceptable.”
Murphy, a Republican from Upper St. Clair, resigned from office in October after details publicly emerged that he suggested his alleged mistress get an abortion. The Tribune-Review this week reported that Murphy's campaign donated $1,000 to Korns' candidate committee.
Korns said he would not return the donation and dismissed Kline's criticism.
“I signed a pledge declining a state pension, declining per diems and that I won't take a state car. Mr. Kline has not signed that pledge,” Korns said. “This is a complete non-issue.”
Murphy's campaign finished 2017 with $1.28 million on hand, according to campaign finance filings.
In addition to Korns, Murphy donated $5,000 to the Westmoreland County Republican Committee to be used to support Rick Saccone, the Republican nominee for a special election to replace him.
Saccone, 59, a state representative from Elizabeth Township, has not accepted direct contributions from Murphy and encouraged the Westmoreland County GOP to return his donation, campaign spokesman Pat Geho told the Tribune-Review.
County Commissioner Ted Kopas on Tuesday called for Murphy to use his leftover campaign money to reimburse taxpayers for the cost of the special election to fill his former 18th Congressional District seat.
Westmoreland County expects to spend $230,000 for the March 13 contest between Saccone and Democrat Conor Lamb, 33, of Mt. Lebanon.
Rich Cholodofsky is a Tribune-Review staff writer.
