Doylestown, PA — Representative Wendi Thomas, and her election committee, Friends of Wendi Thomas, lost their bid to dismiss a defamation and false light suit filed against Thomas and her committee in the Court of Common Pleas of Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Giving candidate Ann Marie Mitchell her first victory in the suit, the Judge ruled that the suit against Rep. Wendi Thomas and her committee for making false statements and defamatory attacks on her Democratic opponent, candidate Ann Marie Mitchell “clearly can proceed.” The Judge also denied Thomas’s lawyers’ request that Representative Wendi Thomas be removed as a defendant.
“This ad contains blatant lies clearly made to sow distrust of candidates with voters. It’s exactly the kind of political smear that voters are sick and tired of, and we don’t want in Bucks County. This year we have a real chance to change the way things are done in Harrisburg, and reject Harrisburg politicians like Wendi Thomas and get results instead of doubletalk for voters on job creation, education, and healthcare,” said Democratic Candidate Ann Marie Mitchell.
“With voters of Northampton, Wrightstown, Upper Makefield, Solebury Township and New Hope already voting, we were forced to file a suit demanding that Rep. Thomas’ and her campaign stop making the false statement about Ms. Mitchell and stop airing their false TV ads. The Representative has crossed the line; she is lying to her constituents and we could not allow her defamatory statements about her Democratic opponent Ann Marie Mitchell to continue. We are pleased that the Judge agreed that the defamation suit against Republican Wendi Thomas and her committee could proceed, and she is now on notice that every time that deceptive ad airs it only makes things worse.” said attorney Adam Bonin.
Republican Rep. Wendi Thomas’s lawyers defended her use of the false and fraudulent ad meant to create a false impression with the voting public and harm Mrs. Mitchell’s reputation. Her television ad misuses a Daily Local News headline from 716 days ago and over 40 miles away and in a totally unrelated state house race. The article referenced was about a 2018 campaign for state house in Chester County, which has no relationship to either Thomas or Mitchell. Mitchell had no role in the 2018 dispute and was not a candidate for office at the time. In sum, Thomas is employing a two-year-old headline regarding an outside group to claim that there has been a judicial determination that Mitchell herself has lied about Thomas during this campaign.