Beyer State House Race Crashes ... Literally

Michael Beyer's campaign to unseat State Rep. Justin Simmons has crashed. At the time I write this, WFMZ had him down 61-39. But his campaign also crashed literally.

Leaving a polling place at Coopersburg's Calvary Church, Beyer pulled out in front of two cars. He ended up getting T-boned and snarling traffic. This probably reduced the turnout and may be the smartest thing he did in this race.

Fortunately, no one was injured except Mike's ego.

So ends a race that was dishonest from start to finish. Beyer was thrown off the ballot after misrepresenting that he was a lawyer. And yesterday, he had Joyce Moore, a liberal Democrat, hand out "Republicans for Beyer".

Beyer Campaign Gets Ugly In Its Waning Hours

Michael Beyer

Earlier this year, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court called State house candidate Michael Beyer a liar. They removed the Republican-turned-Democrat from the ballot for a "knowing and material" misrepresentation of himself as a lawyer. Beyer, who only became a Democrat the day before he started circulating his nomination petition was able to get on the ballot anyway, as a write-in candidate. This Democrat of Convenience happens to be the son of Karen Beyer. She used to hold the seat her son is seeking before it was taken away by incumbent Justin Simmons. She illegally solicited House Republicans, on their public email accounts, to attend a fundraiser she was hosting for her son. Beyer's no Democrat. He's an opportunist. But a small segment of extremist Democrats are so anxious to get rid of Simmons that they are willing to abandon the principles of their own party. Of course, they are doing it dishonestly It's a lesson they learned from Beyer. Let me tell you the story.

Both campaigns have created spoof sites to lampoon the other. There's BeyerProof and JustinSimmonsHorrorStories.

Good fun. But this goes a bot beyond the usual attacks.

Using pseudonyms Elizabeth Bennett and Ha Ireton, they recently began posting messages on Simmons' Facebook page.  They smear one of his friends as a murderer. Then they accuse Simmons of being gay.

Justin Simmons

Murder Accusations

One of Simmons' volunteers and a friend, Mark Sterner, killed three of his fraternity brothers, his best friends, in a Florida drunk driving crash about twenty years ago. In just three months, they were to graduate. Sterner spent three years in a Florida maximum security jail. Since his release, he has given lectures to over two million college and high school students, repeating his story. He does not preach. "You're old enough to make your decisions," he tells them. "I do this so you never have to bury one of your brothers."

Instead of deleting this attack, Simmons confronted it. "I'm proud to have Mark Sterner on my campaign. He made a mistake years ago and now tries to make a difference in kids' lives everyday. If you were actually involved in our community you would know that like everyone else."

I happen to know Mark myself, and consider his the most gifted political strategist in the Lehigh Valley, next to Shawn Millan. But he does not work in politics.

Gay bashing

After attacking this Simmons' volunteer, they go on to accuse Simmons of being gay, even claiming that he has some sort of relationship with a State Senator.

Simmons' sexual orientation is irrelevant, but he addresses the accusation. "I'm happily married to my wife Erica for almost 3 years now. I find it truly hypocritical that a campaign that supposedly supports equality in the LGBT community is using that as a weapon against Republicans."

Simmons is correct. Democrats stand for tolerance of sexual orientation, as well as giving a second chance to someone who has paid his debt to society. Like Beyer, these folks aren't true Democrats.

They're haters.

Beyèr - A Democrat of Convenience

Allons enfants de la Patrie

Two years ago, Democrats tried and nearly succeeded in getting rid of State Representative Justin Simmons. They ran Kevin Deely, a one-time teachers' union president for the Easton Area School District. Deely lost, and later moved out of the 131st District, proving that he had been a carpetbagger after all. Now Democrats are trying to beat Simmons with Mike Beyèr. Until very recently, Beyèr was a Republican himself. He's the son of former Republican State Rep. Karen Beyèr, who was upset by Simmons four years ago. She's pulled out all the stops in getting her son elected. This includes breaking the law, doing the same thing that led to the Bonusgate prosecutions.

Harrisburg Republicans have been getting emails like this from Karen Beyèr, sent to their pahousegop.com e-mail addresses:

From: Karen Beyer [mailto:kdbeyer@yahoo.com]
Sent: Monday, October 13, 2014 6:25 PM
Subject: Please join me for a cocktail reception for Michael Beyer

Please join me and my family in our home for a cocktail reception for Michael.
He will be a great representative for the 131st, please come out and meet him.

Attached to these emails is a flyer from 7pointsconsulting.com (That is political consultant Mike Fleck's firm) inviting them to the cocktail party to elect Beyèr at $100 a pop.

This, of course, is exactly what started the Bonusgate prosecutions. So Beyer instead of a mad rush to buy tickets, she instead received an email from Rod Corey, Chief Counsel of the House Republican Legal Staff, telling her to stop using state email addresses to further her son's campaign.

There goes that damn Ethics Act again.

I guess porn would have been OK.

This little episode demonstrates that Beyèr, among other things, is a phony who pretends he is a Democrat while reaching out for Republican support, and breaking the law to do it. He is, as one other person has called him, a Democrat of convenience. He was registered Republican until just before deciding to circulate a nomination petition for his mom's old seat. Realizing he could never beat Simmons in a primary, he simply switched parties.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court is on to him. He was thrown off the ballot as a Democrat after making a "knowing and material misrepresentation" that he was, in fact, an attorney. The truth is that he failed or never took the Bar exam. Those who signed his nomination petition, the Court concluded, were "materially misled."

He has continued to materially mislead the public. In campaign literature, this former intern claims falsely that he was a legislative aide. He also falsely claims to have worked at a securities arbitration clinic when the truth is that it was just a part of a required class when he attended law school.

The Beyèr camp, issued this statement: "I fart in your general direction. Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries. Now go away or I shall taunt you a second time."

Dems: Be Careful What You Wish For

Michael Beyer has been tossed by the state Supremes as a Democratic candidate in Justin Simmons District. They think he has a little problem telling the truth. That was apparent to me simply because he switched parties the day before you started circulating his nomination petition. A long time Republican just suddenly became a Democrat. The reason, quite obviously, is because he could never win as a Republican. 

Beyer is the son of former state rep Karen Beyer. She's been telling her old Republican and lobbyist friends in Harrisburg that Michael will switch back to Republican if he wins in November since the 131st is now a Republican leaning district.  They think they only have a shot this year to win this district because of Corbett.  Also she will be his Chief of Staff so she can direct him.

So Bar Johnston, is this what you really want?

State Supremes Toss Beyer Ballot Bid

Although Michael Beyer may still wage a write-in campaign for the Democratic nod  in a state house race against incumbent Justin Simmons, the Supreme Court has removed him as a sanctioned candidate. In a harshly worded opinion that reverses the Commonwealth Court, the state supremes have essentially called Beyer a liar who misrepresented his occupation. 

Beyer is the son of former State Rep. Karen Beyer, who was upset by upstart Simmons four years ago. 

Beyer's candidacy struck me as dishonest from the start. Knowing he could never beat Simmons as a Republican, he switched teams and suddenly became a Democrat right before he started circulating. Amazingly, many Democratic die-hards flocked to this obvious turncoat, whose party affiliation USA matter of convenience, not principle.

It was obvious Beyer knew what he was doing when he called himself a lawyer.  When Justin ran against Karen Beyer, she attacked Justin as an unemployed 23 year old who lived in his parents' basement.  In truth, Simmons had to quit his job to run for office.

Beyer is 30, unemployed and, according to his court testimony, never had a job. According to his court testimony, he lives in his parents' basement.  He had to lie.
He spent 12 years as a full time student. He's been out of law school for a year.  He hasn't taken the bar, has never had a job and doesn't have a job now.  That doesn't look good when you are running for office.

Here's the Opinion. http://www.pacourts.us/assets/opinions/Supreme/out/J-51-2014pco.pdf?cb=1

State House: Beyer Wins Ballot Challenge

Michael Beyer, son of former State Representative Karen Beyer, will be on the Democratic ballot for the seat his mother held as a Republican four years ago. Beyer has survived a three-pronged nomination challenge attacking nomination petitions, residency and his claim to be a lawyer. In a ruling issued this morning, Judge Renee Cohn Jubelirer rejected the challenge.

David and Linda Eisenhauer, two Democrats who live in the District, filed the challenge. Representing them is Attorney Matt Crosslis, who until recently was Lehigh County Executive, and has vowed to appeal.

Originally, Crosslis' petition argued that petitions were being signed by circulators who did not actually circulate them. He also argued that Beyer was a Pittsburgh resident. But he withdrew those two challenges, leaving him only with the claim that Beyer, a recent law school grad, had somehow misrepresented himself.

Give me a break.

Once Crosslis realized he was unable to mount a successful circulation challenge, this case was pretty much toast. An appeal is a waste of money.

Since no one else is running on the Democratic side, this assures Beyer's nomination.

In the Fall, he'll face incumbent Justin Simmons, the man who beat Beyer's mother four years ago, and the man who will very likely beat him.

Facebook Follies

This story is an example of the trouble Facebook can cause when people post stupid comments. Interestingly, this one involves the challenge to Michael Beyer's nomination petition as State Rep. It includes extensive Facebook excerpts, which blew out my blog. So I posted it as a page.

State House: Beyer Nomination Petition Challenged

Michael Beyer, son of former State representative Karen Betyer, is running for the seat his mother lost when she was challenged by fellow Republican Justin Simmons in the 131st legislative district. Knowing he would lose in a Republican primary, Michael became a Democrat earlier this month. But whether he gets his party's nomination is in doubt. His nomination petition has been challenged in Commonwealth Court by David and Linda Eisenhauer, two Democrats who live in the District. Representing the Eisenhauers is Attorney Matt Crosslis, who until recently was Lehigh County Executive.

According to the challenge, which you can read for yourself here, Beyer claims he's a lawyer, and he did recently graduate from law school. But he apparently flunked the bar, so he can't hold himself out as a lawyer. The Eisenhauers claim this makes Beyer's nomination petition "materially defective" and "intentionally false."

In addition, Beyer's residency is challenged. Instead of continuously residing in the district or a year, Beyer lived in Pittsburgh, where he went to college and law school. A landlord-tenant complaint was filed against him there. After graduation, he moved to Florida to care for his ailing grandmother. He never established residency in the 131st until March 4, the date he registered in Northampton County.

According to the Eisenhauers, Beyer does not list the persons who actually circulated his petition. Kevin Deely, Gloria McVeigh, Tara Anthony and others claimed to have circulated petitions on his behalf, but none of them signed circulator affidavits.

Democratic activist Bar Johnston, who lives in Simmons' district and is mentioned in the challenged, called the challenge "baseless and total crap. This is just Simmons being Simmons." She added that several years ago, when former state representative Karen Beyer challenged the Michael Horton candidacy on the basis of residency and lost, Simmons turned that into a campaign issue. She claimed his actions now are "hypocritical."

The Commonwealth Court has scheduled a hearing on March 26, 2014, at 9:30 a.m., in Courtroom Number 5001, Fifth
Floor, Pennsylvania Judicial Center, 601 Commonwealth Avenue, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Updated 12:20 PM, after getting comment from Johnston and reviewing docket.

Simmons - Beyer II

When Justin Simmons first ran for State Representative in 2010, the 131st incumbent was Karen Beyer. Simmons defeated her in the Republican primary, and went on to win in the general election. Karen never got over it. When Kevin Deely ran against Simmons two years later (and lost), she was a major supporter. Now she's running her son, Mike Beyer.

According to voting records, Beyer was living and voting in Northampton County between 2004 and 2010. He skipped out on the elections in 2007, 2008 and 2011.

In 2012, he voted in the general election in Pittsburgh. Last year, he didn't vote at all.

When he did vote, it was as a Republican. But last Monday, he dropped in at the Voter Register's office and changed his party registration to Democrat.

Beyer could never beat Simmons as a Republican, so he switched sides. So his switch is not a matter of conscience, but a matter of convenience.