BREAKING NEWS: State lawmaker kicked off ballot

The Associated Press is reporting that state Rep. Frank Andrew Shimkus, a Democrat from Scranton, has been kicked off the April 22 primary ballot for submitting a faulty nominating petition.

Shimkus won Lackawanna County's 113th District seat in 2006 and was planning to run for re-election. Barring a reversal of the Commonwealth Court ruling by the state Supreme Court, Shimkus' tenure in the state House will end after one two-year term.

In a 35-page decision release late Friday, Commonwealth Court Judge Renee Cohn Jubelirer ruled that Shimkus is ineligible for the primary election because he misrepresented his address on his nominating petitions, according to The Associated Press.

Shimkus told the wire service that he will appeal the decision to the state's highest court.

"I was elected overwhelmingly, I think this is baloney and I'm going to make sure the voters have the right to choose," he told the AP.

The immediate beneficiary of the court ruling is Democrat Kevin Murphy, who is running against Shimkus. There are no Republican candidates for the 113th District seat, so the winner of the April 22 Democratic Party primary had a clear shot of going to Harrisburg.

If the Supreme Court sides with Judge Jubelirer, Shimkus told the AP he will run as a write-in candidate. He better get his pencil sharpened because the Supreme Court isn't likely to overturn a lower court's decision in this kind of case.

The reason for the original court challenge to the nominating petition may land Shimkus in the tabloids ... or upset enough voters that Shimkus could lose re-election if he is allowed to run.

From The Associated Press:

Three people filed the challenge, contending Shimkus falsely provided the address of an empty house owned by his daughter and son-in-law. Shimkus wanted to avoid drawing attention to the fact he lived in another house with his fiancee, who is 30 years his junior, their challenge said. According to court documents, Shimkus said he stayed at the empty house one or two nights a week, and moved in with his fiancee only recently. Both houses are in the district, about a mile from each other, Shimkus said.

According to his official bio on the state House of Representatives Web site, Shimkus holds a degree in theology from Antietam Bible College & Seminary. Shimkus lists his occupation as a "broadcast journalist." It appears Rep. Shimkus will find himself the lead story on tonight's 11 o'clock news.