In the ongoing struggle to refine the ballot in advance of Nov. 2, two candidates have dropped out of contention this week, removing threats on the right to Tom Corbett for governor, and from the left to Joe Sestak for senator.

John Krupa, whose claim to be the tea-party candidate for governor was questioned by other leaders of the movement, filed papers withdrawing from the race midway through a review of his petition signatures.
“He didn’t have the requisite number,” Krupa’s lawyer, David Montgomery of Pittsburgh, acknowledged Monday after lawyers for the Lock Haven tavern owner and his challengers spent the weekend sifting through his petitions.
Mel Packer, the Green Party nominee for the Senate, said he decided to withdraw because he lacked enough surplus signatures to defend his petitions against a concerted challenge by Democratic nominee Joe Sestak, a member of the House who beat incumbent Arlen Specter in the May primary. Packer said he did not have a lawyer or the money or time to represent himself.
“I can’t afford that,” Packer, a physician’s assistant in the emergency room of a Pittsburgh hospital, said in a telephone interview. “I’m 65 years old. I’m still working. I’ve got kids in college.” [emphasis added]

Meanwhile, in PA-7, Republican Pat Meehan is still facing the addition of third-party candidate Jim Schneller to the race against Bryan Lentz. Meehan has criticized Lentz for what his campaign describes as a “cover up” of Lentz’s campaign workers’ efforts to secure the necessary number of signatures for Schneller to appear on the ballot.