HARRISBURG – Republican Party of Pennsylvania Chairman Rob Gleason released the following statement regarding former 17^th Congressional District Democratic candidate Sheila Dow-Ford’s recent accusation that a supporter of Congressman Tim Holden attempted to buy her out of the Democratic Primary Election.

“It’s becoming increasingly apparent that Tim Holden is taking his cues on how to engage in ‘Chicago-style’ politics from President Obama and other Washington ‘insiders’,” Gleason said. “As we continue to press to learn more about the facts surrounding the White House’s efforts to get Joe Sestak out of the U.S. Senate race, we now learn that Tim Holden may have tried to bribe a political rival out of the Democratic Primary as he worries about his own political future.

“Pennsylvanians in the 17^th Congressional District deserve far better than this type of politics.  If this is true, it is amazing what lengths Tim Holden and his supporters will go to avoid campaigning and having to explain his poor record in D.C.”

According to an article in the Lebanon Daily News, Holden’s Primary Election challenger on the Democratic side, Sheila Dow-Ford, alleged that one of his supporters offered her a job to drop out of the race.

“In addition to his unsuccessful challenge of her nominating petitions, she claimed a supporter of his offered her a selection of jobs to stay out of the race, and that people working on his behalf have fraudulently identified themselves as census workers in a bid to intimidate her supporters. The charges have been denied by Holden and his campaign.”(Latimer, John, “Challenger says incumbent’s hiding,” Lebanon Daily News, 5/9/10)

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