Today, the campaigns of Anthony Coghill and Patrick Reilly entered into a courtroom dispute over the petty politics and dishonest tactics their political backers displayed at the Allegheny County Party Committee endorsement vote a few days ago. One campaign is accusing the other of disguising an elderly woman as a committee member so she could cast a fraudulent and illegal ballot during Sunday’s endorsement vote in order to gain an advantage.

Natalia Rudiak is releasing the following statement:

“The thousands of hard-working families of South Pittsburgh are the most important part of this election, not the insulting politics of these battling political factions. We need safer streets, cleaner neighborhoods, and leadership we can trust, not more game playing and political drama that obscure the real problems we face.

“I am tired of this soap-opera-politics, and I think the voters are too.

“I am running to protect our neighborhoods from neglect and crime, to rebuild our business districts, and to restore public trust in government. The hard-working residents of our district have been left out of the conversation of how to build a better Pittsburgh because of old style political gamesmanship like this. It’s time to bring new energy and ideas to our district and to elect the kind of leadership that we deserve.

“We need to respect the voters and raise the level of discourse in this race. Our friends, family, and neighbors deserve better.”