Erie News Now has confirmed that a settlement has been reached in a libel lawsuit by PA Senator Dan Laughlin over an Erie Reader editorial written by Jim Wertz.  Wertz was then chair of the Erie County Democratic Party, but went on to challenge Laughlin for his senate seat.

The lawsuit, dating back to 2022 was resolved not long after republican Dan Laughlin defeated Wertz to win a 3rd term in the Pennsylvania Senate.

The lengthy lawsuit was for what Senator Laughlin saw as an unflattering and unfair editorial by Wertz ended with no retraction required and no apology. 

Wertz said the settlement is a victory for free speech. "This is a huge win for the first amendment, and freedom of speech and we believed that we were protected by those values from the outset."

In a statement to Erie News Now, Laughlin said, "The article was clearly a political attack so my campaign responded by filing suit. The fact that we won in a landslide made the suit irrelevant, so rather than spend any more money on it we decided it was best to move on," Laughlin said.

Moving on though comes after the senator spent more than $145,000 in campaign funds on the legal fight.  The settlement requires just an editor's note above the online version of Wertz' editorial.

Without the free support of a first amendment legal committee, Wertz said defending against the suit would have cost him much more.  He still owes $16,000 of $45,000 in additional legal fees. "Yeah we're incredibly grateful for the efforts of the Reporters Committee for the Freedom of the Press, without them this would have been a very costly endeavor and one that we likely could not have undertaken." Wertz said.

With the lawsuit behind them, will Wertz and Laughlin resume the amicable relationship they had before a campaign that got ugly? Wertz said the two have already talked, and he is willing. "I'm most interested in what's best for this community so any effort or organizations that I might be party to that require the assistance and support of Senator Laughlin, I would look forward to working with him on those efforts," Wertz said.