Jim Schneller, the third-party conservative candidate in the 7th Congressional District race, announced Wednesday that he filed a complaint with the United States District Court for Eastern Pennsylvania requesting a temporary restraining order to halt the taping of an upcoming show.

Schneller wants to be included on a question-and-answer session on "NBC10 @Issue" with major-party candidates Republican Pat Meehan and Democrat Bryan Lentz.

This is the second complaint Schneller filed regarding this matter. The first was filed with the Federal Communications Commission last week.

The Daily Times wrote about the first complaint in Tuesday's edition. In case you missed it, check it out below.

By DANIELLE LYNCH
dlynch@delcotimes.com

Jim Schneller, the third-party conservative candidate in the 7th Congressional District race, filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission against a local television news network after he was uninvited to an upcoming show with the major-party candidates.
The major-party candidates - Republican Pat Meehan and Democrat Bryan Lentz - are scheduled to be on the local "NBC10 @Issue" program Oct. 3. The weekly show includes discussion about political affairs.
Schneller sent a complaint to the Federal Communications Commission late last week. "I deserve equal time to this air time granted to my opponents, and I deserve to appear on the debate at hand, under the circumstances," he wrote in the complaint.
Kathleen Burke, a spokeswoman for NBC10, said the format of the show is not a debate.
"It's a simply a question-and-answer session," Burke said. "If it were a debate, we'd bring in all the candidates."
Four areas of political coverage are exempt from the equal opportunities rule, including bona fide newscasts, bona fide news interviews, bona fide news documentary and on-the-spot coverage of a bona fide news event, according to the Federal Communications Commission.
Burke said the program falls into the bona fide news interview category.
Even still, Schneller argued that he believes NBC10 has a duty to include him because he could potentially be one of the major candidates in the race since nominating petitions collected for Meehan are under investigation by the Attorney General's office.
Schneller also recently filed a complaint in the Commonwealth Court seeking an order to compel the Attorney General's office to complete the alleged fraud investigation, which began in the spring.
At the same time, nominating petitions collected for Schneller are also under investigation by the Attorney General's office for alleged irregularities in signatures.
"Jim Schneller would not be on the ballot had it not been for the coordinated effort of Bryan Lentz and his supporters, and we have no intention of debating two candidates put on the ballot by the Democratic Party," said Virginia Davis, a spokeswoman for Meehan. "It is quite clear that Bryan Lentz believes his tax-and-spend record is so out of touch with voters that he had to put a shill candidate on the ballot in an attempt to manipulate the outcome."
The Lentz campaign had a different view about Schneller's participation in debates.
"It's clear from Meehan's continue opposition to Jim Schneller participating in debates that he's still worried about losing the Tea Party support he's worked so hard to gain," said Kevin McTigue, campaign manager for Lentz. "Bryan Lentz continues to reject the right-wing platforms of Meehan, Schneller, and the Tea Party and instead, will continue to focus on growing the economy and creating jobs."
Schneller was also excluded from three other debates between the major-party candidates in recent weeks. He was, however, invited to another upcoming forum with the major-party candidates. The forum, sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Delaware County, will take place at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 14 at Delaware County Community College.


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As a resident of the 7th Congressional District, do you think Schneller should be included?