Primary candidate alleges favoritism
The election's over, but allegations of impropriety have followed.
Ryan Covert, who lost his bid to unseat state Rep. Marci Mustello, R-11th, in the June primary, alleges her victory came as a result of favoritism by the state Republican Party and local politicians.
Mustello said the allegations are fruitless and said her win was fair.
At the heart of Covert's statements is what he said is frustrations over why the Butler County Republican Committee endorsed one candidate running in a primary, rather than supporting whichever candidate won that election. He described it as a “little guy versus the establishment's money and power.”
“The biggest thing that aggravates me is the local Republicans endorsing a primary candidate for the first time in history and working against one of their own when they could have just left it up to the people to decide,” Covert said. “There should be no committee endorsements for a Republican primary. That doesn't make any sense to me.”
The county GOP endorsed Mustello, along with state Rep. Tim Bonner, R-8th; state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, R-12th; and Sean Parnell, a candidate for the 17th District U.S. House of Representatives seat. It was a first for the county's party, and committee chairman Al Lindsay said in March they wanted “to be the 800-pound gorilla in Western Pennsylvania” by adopting the practice. Lindsay could not be reached for comment.
Covert claimed the favoritism stemmed from Mustello's previous work with the county GOP, saying she was a “hand-picked candidate” for the 2019 special election and this year's primary. Mustello rebutted the claim by saying her political experience makes her qualified, rather than a favored candidate among county Republicans.
Preemptively combating allegations he is simply jaded after a primary loss, Covert said he wouldn't have supported a county Republican endorsement even if it had gone to him, though he did present himself to the committee as they were hearing candidates for endorsements.
<h3>Campaign finances</h3>Covert's allegations extend to campaign finance, where he focused on two donations from the state GOP to Mustello, totaling $16,800, along with donations from political committees established to support other candidates, such as Leslie Osche, county commissioner chairwoman, in their respective elections. He added that campaign mailers showing both U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-16th, and Mustello were evidence of this supposed favoritism.Claiming large-dollar political spending is bypassing “the will of the people,” Covert railed against campaign contributions to Mustello, saying it was “the swamp at its finest.”“She was the only person that was really opposed, and that side spent over $1 million,” he said. “From her aspect, that's $130,000 to beat a fellow Republican who's been a lifelong supporter.”Mustello's primary campaign raised less than $40,000 between January and the June election. Covert claimed the amount of money spent in Mustello's favor goes far beyond the $32,000 reported on her campaign finance report, saying other politicians — including Kelly — spent money on campaign mailers to support her.The Eagle was unable to independently verify the specific dollar amounts Covert claims. Mustello said she is unaware of any amount of money spent on her primary election that approached that total, adding, “I wish.”“I would love, love, love to know how he came up with that number,” Mustello said.In 2019 and 2020, when Mustello ran in one special election and one primary election, she raised more than $150,000 and spent around $105,000, receiving under $70,000 in in-kind contributions, according to campaign finance filings. Covert raised about $15,000 between January and June.Mustello's expenditures are comparable to those of other Butler County politicians with state posts. Metcalfe, the state's 12th district representative, spent more than $140,000 in the 2018 general election and more than $20,000 in the 2020 primary, in which his seat was contested. State Sen. Elder Vogel Jr., R-47th, spent more than $135,000 in the 2016 general election — his most recent — and spent about $7,500 in his uncontested 2020 primary election.Contributions from county and state Republicans, Mustello said, are the result of political savvy, not evidence of playing favorites.“I've been working and running campaigns for quite a while, so we know it takes money to run a campaign,” she said.“He could have asked Mike (Kelly) to do the same. Mike chose to support somebody else and not him,” she said of Covert.<h3>Mail-in ballots</h3>Covert alluded to recent claims that mail-in ballots are less secure than physical voting, claiming campaign mailers with reminders that mail-in voting is permitted were a deciding factor.“It was all the GOP and all the mighty sponsors and all the bigwigs of the Republican Party supporting her, (but) I still beat her at the polls,” Covert said. “She had to rely on mail-in ballots.”Mustello said the mail-in ballots were a legitimate option and count as much as in-person votes.“A vote is a vote, no matter what,” she said. “Is he trying to suppress people's votes?”Referring to Covert's previous career as a boxer, Mustello compared political campaigns to boxing matches, saying her victory came as a result of better preparation.“In bouts, you win or you lose. You fight the fight, and you win or you lose. It's in the preparation,” she said. “In America, you can vote for whoever you want and you can donate to whoever you want.”
