A state court in Pennsylvania has disqualified the nomination of Green Party candidate Andrew Tupone from Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District — a significant development that could prove decisive in one of the most closely watched battleground races of the 2026 election cycle. The ruling was reported on Friday evening by Punchbowl News congressional reporter Ally Mutnick (via X).

The 7th District, centered in the Lehigh Valley around Allentown, is one of the most competitive House districts in the country, and its contest pits incumbent Republican Ryan Mackenzie against Democratic challenger Bob Brooks in a high-stakes race that is among the handful of contests expected to determine which party controls the U.S. House after this November's midterm elections.

Tupone is a former registered Republican who joined the Green Party — a significant third party in American politics that rarely wins elected office — in what he described as a protest against both major parties.

However, officials from both the Democratic Party and the Green Party itself were immediately suspicious of his candidacy. They suspected Tupone may have gotten on the ballot as a "plant" backed by the Pennsylvania Republican Party, intended to siphon votes away from Democrats and help Mackenzie secure re-election. The Green Party of Pennsylvania was listed as one of the key petitioners seeking to disqualify Tupone's candidacy, an unusual step detailed in reporting by the Pennsylvania Capital-Star ("Why is the Green Party trying to kick a Green Party candidate off the ballot in the PA?"). Minor-party and independent candidates in Pennsylvania must gather thousands of valid voter signatures to reach the ballot, and challenges to those petitions are a routine part of the state's pre-election litigation — though it is far less common for a candidate's own party to lead the effort to remove him.

It is not the first time Republicans have been accused of standing a Green Party candidate in a key race to act as a spoiler. Earlier this year, The Bulwark investigated Shane Dedrick, a Green Party nominee for a swing U.S. House seat in Michigan who appears to have no ties to the broader Green Party and who has donated money to Republicans in the past (Raw Story).

Third-party candidates have historically played an outsized role in close races in Pennsylvania and other swing states, where even small vote shares can shift outcomes. With the Tupone nomination now disqualified, the 7th District ballot will no longer include a Green Party option, narrowing the field in a contest both major parties view as critical to the House majority. Whether the ruling is appealed or further challenges to the district's ballot lineup emerge will help determine the final set of choices voters see in November.