A lawyer from Pine has withdrawn her candidacy in both primary races after a legal objection to her Democratic election petition alleged that several signatures were falsified.
The objection, filed on March 17, questioned the authenticity of five signatures — 10 are required to run— on the petition of Kathleen Ravotti, who cross-filed in Region 1 of the district.
It included signed affidavits from four of Ravotti’s neighbors claiming they never signed the candidate’s petition and yet their names were included anyway. The objection was filed by Elizabeth DeLosa, an attorney also running in both primaries for Region 1.
On March 19, Ravotti submitted two candidate withdrawal notices to the county for each primary race, even though her Republican election petition was not in question.
DeLosa said she did not have the chance to confer with Ravotti before her withdrawal, but she said it is reasonable to assume that her objection spurred Ravotti to leave the race. She would still be eligible, however, to run as an independent candidate in November’s general election.
Even if Ravotti and Kayla Van Blargan, the petition’s circulator, may still technically be in violation of a law related to “unsworn falsification to authorities,” DeLosa said it is “not realistic” that either would actually face legal penalties.
Ravotti did not respond to requests for comment.