HARRISBURG — Republicans who control Pennsylvania’s Senate want a Democrat who is the apparent winner in the race for an open suburban Pittsburgh seat to prove she meets the residency requirement to serve in the chamber, senators said Wednesday.

Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman, R-Centre, said Republicans plan to ask Democrat Lindsey Williams to show how she meets a constitutional requirement that newly elected senators must have lived in Pennsylvania for the prior four years.

“She needs to have the ability to come in and lay out that she does meet the requirements and, if she does, that’ll be the end of it,” Corman said. “If she doesn’t, then we’ve got an issue that we need to deal with.”

Corman would not say how Republicans will handle it if they decide that Williams doesn’t meet the requirement. Republican senators discussed the matter for the first time Wednesday during a closed-door caucus meeting.

A judge threw out a GOP-backed lawsuit last month challenging Williams’ eligibility, saying the plaintiffs had missed a seven-day period to challenge her nomination petition for the primary ballot.

By Associated Press