Suspected GOP plant disqualified from key race after being disavowed by his own party

A state court in Pennsylvania has disqualified the nomination of Green Party candidate Andrew Tupone from Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District, in a huge development that could be decisive in a closely watched battleground race.

The development was reported on Friday evening by Punchbowl News' Ally Mutnick.

Incumbent Republican Ryan Mackenzie is facing off in a high-stakes contest with Democratic challenger Bob Brooks. It's one of a number of races that could decide control of the House in this November's midterm elections.

Tupone is a former registered Republican who joined the Green Party, a significant third party that rarely wins office, in what he called a protest of both parties.

However, officials from both the Democratic Party and the Green Party itself were immediately suspicious of the candidacy, suspecting Tupone may have gotten on the ballot as a "plant" from the Pennsylvania Republican Party to siphon votes from the Democrats and help Mackenzie secure re-election.

The Green Party of Pennsylvania was listed as one of the key petitioners to disqualify Tupone's candidacy.

It's not the first time Republicans have been accused of standing a Green Party candidate in a key race to try to act as a spoiler. Earlier this year, The Bulwark investigated Shane Dedrick, a Green Party nominee for a swing House seat in Michigan who doesn't appear to have any ties to the broader Green Party and has given money to Republicans in the past.