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Citing multiple irregularities in this week's election of party leaders, a couple of dissident Philadelphia Republicans want the Republican State Committee to void Vito Canuso's re-election as city GOP chairman. Kevin J. Kelly, a newly elected State Committee member and outspoken critic of the local Republican organization, and his attorney, Matthew Wolfe, the Republican leader of University City's 27th Ward, filed a formal petition yesterday contending that Canuso violated state election laws and the party's own bylaws when ward leaders convened Wednesday night to elect a citywide leadership slate. If all the legal issues had been properly handled, the petition...

The political fight for control of Philadelphia's Republican Party almost came to blows Wednesday night after a raucous meeting of party leaders kept longtime GOP chief Michael Meehan in charge. But 14 ward leaders who showed up at the United Republican Club in Kensington were either not admitted to the meeting or not allowed to vote for leadership of the Republican City Committee, according to Al Schmidt. Schmidt, who has been battling Meehan for control of the city party, vowed legal action against GOP leaders if the disenfranchised ward leaders were not allowed to vote. "All we want is an...

The city's Republican organization re-elected most of its current leadership last night, but with levels of controversy and opposition not seen over the last 50 years. About a dozen of the Republican ward leaders elected Monday night were barred from attending the reorganization meeting at the United Republican Club in Kensington, or were kicked out of the meeting after it began, with no substantive explanations. Meanwhile, about 30 protesters stood outside in the rain, many of them holding signs that attacked the current party hierarchy, led by general counsel Michael P. Meehan. Toward the end of a 90- minute meeting,...

To the wacky tales of Philadelphia politics, add that of LaMott Ebron . A 22-year-old African American elated and inspired by the election of President Obama, Ebron decided to run for office - as a Republican. Not long after offering himself as a candidate for party committeeman in the May 18 election, he received a subpoena at his Nicetown home notifying him that someone he had never heard of was trying to kick him off the ballot. It turned out that the challenger, Michael Gilliland, did not live at the address listed on the challenge, which ended in late March....

On Tuesday, February 16, 2010 a big, but little understood, political decision will be made. It involves the Republican City Committee, a group whose choices aren’t often heard about in a town where Democrats outnumber Republicans by more than 6-1. The issue involves control of the local party, which ultimately impacts how and whether the GOP can emerge as a potent force. Some frustrated local Republicans, backed by state Republican party chair Rob Gleason, are anxious to reinvent Philadelphia’s GOP. This could threaten the grip of local Republican leaders, especially the party’s real boss, legal counsel Michael Meehan, the third...

ABATTLE OVER leadership of the city's Republican Party is rapidly intensifying, the stakes growing to include control of the party's main patronage source, the Philadelphia Parking Authority. For now, the Parking Authority is strongly in the grip of the GOP's current leader, general counsel Michael P. Meehan. A loyal Meehan ally, Republican ward leader Vincent Fenerty Jr., became the authority's executive director four years ago despite evidence that Fenerty illegally pressured rank-and-file workers to make political contributions to the city Republican organization. But the terms of two Parking Authority board members are expiring this summer. The fight over their potential...