We just won in court. The fight isn't over.
What started as two Republican voters standing up for the rules has grown into something bigger, and today, a court agreed with us.
On June 24, 2026, a judge issued an Emergency Temporary Restraining Order against Cumberland County Republican Committee (CCRC) Chairman Lou Capozzi, ruling that his attempt to impose an unauthorized loyalty form on elected committee members had no basis in the Committee's own Bylaws.
The Chairman was ordered to stop enforcing it. Not just for one meeting. For any future CCRC meeting.
This is the second case we have brought. Here is the full story of both.
Case One: The Unauthorized Poll Card
In Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, the Chairman of the local Republican Committee decided, on his own, without calling a meeting, without a member vote, and without following any of the steps required by the Committee's own written Bylaws, to put specific candidates on the official party poll card and distribute it at every polling location on Election Day using party funds.
We found out before Election Day and took action.
We filed an emergency court case to stop it because our party has clear, written rules about how endorsements work, and those rules exist to protect every member's right to participate in decisions like this one.
When a party officer skips the process entirely and acts unilaterally, that is not leadership. That is exactly what the rules are designed to prevent.
This case, filed by Kelly Potteiger and Bob Zambuto, is still active and moving forward in Cumberland County Court.
Case Two: The Loyalty Form, and the Court Order That Stopped It
Before the Committee's once-every-four-years Reorganization Meeting on June 25, 2026, the meeting where the full Committee elects a new Chairman, Lou Capozzi sent written demands to every committee person requiring them to sign a private "Acknowledgement" form as a condition of attending the meeting and voting. His letter was direct: "If the Acknowledgement form is not signed and emailed back to the CCRC, you will not be admitted to the election proceedings or allowed to vote."
The form also threatened "disciplinary action up to and including removal" for Bylaw violations.
There is one problem. Neither this form nor any removal authority over elected committee members appears anywhere in the CCRC's governing Bylaws. In fact, in 2021, the full CCRC membership specifically voted on whether to create removal procedures for committee members and voted it down. It did not pass. The Chairman was now attempting to impose by private document what the membership had already rejected at the ballot box.
Nine duly elected Republican Committee Persons, elected by Republican voters across Cumberland County at the May 2026 primary, refused to let this stand. They filed suit on June 16, 2026. They represented themselves, without attorneys. They prepared and filed a full Verified Complaint, an Emergency Application for Temporary Restraining Order, and an Application for Preliminary Injunction, all pro se.
On June 24, 2026, Senior Judge Maria Musti Cook, brought in from York County after every Cumberland County judge recused due to their relationships with Chairman Capozzi, reviewed the case and issued the Emergency Restraining Order the same day as the hearing, just hours before the Reorganization Meeting was set to begin.
The Order:
- Permanently bars the Acknowledgement Form as a condition of membership, attendance, or voting at any CCRC meeting, not just this one
- Bars any "similar extra-by-law document," closing the loophole so the scheme cannot simply be restarted under a different name
- Prohibits conducting the Chairman election on any membership roll from which duly elected members have been improperly excluded
- Remains in effect until further Order of Court
What Connects These Two Cases
Both cases are about the same thing: a Chairman who believes the rules apply to everyone except himself. In Case One, he bypassed the endorsement process to put candidates on an official party document using member funds.
In Case Two, he invented a private loyalty requirement to control who could participate in the most important vote the Committee holds. In both cases, the Committee's own written Bylaws said he could not do it. In both cases, we went to court.
A 2025 Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court decision, Casper v. Bucks County Republican Committee, became final on June 2, 2026 and is the controlling legal precedent for both cases. Casper holds that county Republican committees are bound by their filed Bylaws, that courts have full authority to enforce those Bylaws, and that actions taken by committee leadership in violation of those Bylaws are legal nullities. The Chairman cannot simply decide the rules do not apply to him. Casper says so. And now, so does a court order.
This Is About More Than One Committee
We are not trying to tear the Republican Party apart. We are trying to make it work the way it is supposed to work, with transparent governance, democratic participation, and rules that apply equally to everyone, including the people in charge. When a Chairman can hand-pick who gets to vote for his successor, and when he can use party funds to influence a primary without a member vote, that is not a functioning organization. It is a controlled one.
Every Republican committee person in Pennsylvania, and every voter who participates in a primary, donates to a party, or trusts that the process is fair, has a stake in whether party organizations follow their own rules. We believe they should. We are willing to keep fighting to prove it.
In The News
- https://hbg100.com/2026/06/26/cumberland-county-court-halts-republican-committee-chairmans-overreach/
- https://www.pennlive.com/politics/2026/06/judge-blocks-gop-chairs-use-of-loyalty-oath-to-control-access-to-party-meeting.html
- https://www.pennlive.com/politics/2026/06/cumberland-county-republicans-elect-new-chair-after-loyalty-oath-squabble.html
Why We Need Your Help
Pro se litigation is expensive even without attorneys. Between two active court cases, our costs include court filing fees, document preparation and printing, constable service fees, certified mailing, and the ongoing costs of a case that is far from over. The Temporary Restraining Order is a significant win, but it is the beginning of the process, not the end. A Preliminary Injunction hearing is coming. The full Complaint, with five counts seeking permanent relief and a declaratory judgment that the Chairman's unauthorized form has no legal force, still needs to be resolved.
Your support directly funds the ability of ordinary committee members, people who ran for precinct seats and won them fair and square, to defend the rights those seats carry in a court of law.
Thank you for standing with us.
Kelly Potteiger, Bob Zambuto, and the nine plaintiffs of Potteiger, et al. v. Capozzi and CCRC
Cumberland County, Pennsylvania
Case One: Potteiger and Zambuto v. Capozzi, et al., No. 2026-05517, Cumberland County Court of Common Pleas (pending)
Case Two: Potteiger, et al. v. Capozzi and Cumberland County Republican Committee, No. 2026-06889-2, Cumberland County Court of Common Pleas. Temporary Restraining Order granted June 24, 2026 by Sr. Judge Maria Musti Cook.
Recipient Relationship: Michael W. Zarcone, A plaintiff in the 2nd case, will be the person managing this fundraiser and will receive funds for these two cases.
Fund Management: Michael was asked by the group to manage the funds on their behalf and he will be transferring these funds directly toward paying off court and constable fees.
