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Wednesday, February 22, 2006

OH-06: Bad News, Sports Fans

Posted by DavidNYC

Via reader Earl:

Charles A. Wilson Jr. doesn't have enough valid signatures on his nominating petitions to run in the Democratic primary for the 6th Congressional District race, The Vindicator has learned.

The Columbiana County Board of Elections is left with no other choice but to disqualify Wilson's candidacy for the seat at its meeting today.

Wilson has only 48 valid signatures on his nominating petitions, according to two Democratic sources and one Republican source with knowledge of his petitions. Congressional candidates need 50 valid signatures from registered voters in their districts to get on the ballot.

Options:

1) Appeal to the Columbiana elections board, then to a court if that fails. I doubt that will work.

2) Run as a write-in. Difficult and expensive.

3) Run as an independent. Requires getting 1,886 signatures. Why am I not confident about that route?

4) Wait until after the primary, then convince the winner to step aside and let Wilson take his/her slot. This might be legally permissible, but good luck making it work in practice. And any move like this will also surely garner negative media attention.

It's looking bad all around. What a colossal screw-up.

Posted at 02:29 PM in 2006 Elections - House, Ohio | Technorati

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Comments

It looks like Wilson's best bet is to appeal to the elections board.

The guy also has to clean house within his campaign if he wins his appeal. This is just ridiculous. 50 valid signatures, and you can't get that?

Posted by: purpleday at February 22, 2006 02:49 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Apparently Seeman(n) struck out at the 50 signature thing too

Posted by: RBH at February 22, 2006 04:26 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

RBH, for real?

Posted by: DavidNYC at February 22, 2006 05:00 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Via the Breaking Blue newsfeed:

OH-16: Now Jeff Seemann (D) Tossed From Ballot as Well (John Hull)
Incumbent Congressman Ralph Regula's 2004 opponent, Jeff Seemann, had several signatures tossed by the Stark County Board of Elections earlier today. The invalidations bring him to a total of 45 of the 50 required. If Seemann fails in an appeal slated for early next week, two unknown Democrats remain: Tom Mason and Thomas Shaw.

Posted by: RBH at February 22, 2006 05:17 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Thank God. Seeman(n?) is pathetic. I have NO sympathy or good will towards someone who refuses to file FEC reports and make his expenditures public. Who knows what he did with all that money that the netroots dumped in his lap in '04. Good riddance.

Re: Wilson. What a dunce. That's all I have to say.

Posted by: HellofaSandwich at February 22, 2006 05:30 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

I don't think there is any point to an appeal or court action.

Lisa Canales-Flores already went through that drill when the "no mulligans" rule was enforced against her. It went to the State Supreme court and she lost.

I'd say that Charlie is down to options 2 or 4 above.

I've met Charlie Wilson and he is a great guy and an excellent legislator. Also, the best word to describe Ohio's system in this regard is "cockamamie."

But this is still "a proper cock up" as the English would say.

I was just watching Monty Python on the telly. Now THAT's silly.

Posted by: Ohanon at February 22, 2006 11:11 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

The write in is the best choice. Its not as daunting as you would think. I've run a successful write in effort.

Posted by: DavidG at February 22, 2006 11:35 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

It is totally embarassing this guy couldn't get 50 VALID SIGNATURES!!! I live in NY where you need 1250 valid signatures to run for Congress.

Posted by: John Mills at February 23, 2006 10:48 AM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

It does seem kind of strange that I needed 50 signatures to run for the 21st Ohio Statehouse District and a Congressional candidate needs the same number.

These stories make me have nightmares that I'll get a call starting with, "Mr. Hernandez, about your signatures..."

Posted by: CapitolDem at February 23, 2006 02:34 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

It is unfortunate Wilson overlooked this basic requirement to get on the primary ballot. However, Democrats should do refrain from beating up Wilson in public & in blogs since he is our only chance to hold onto the seat.

Wilson's best option is to run as a write in candidate during the May primary. The other Democratic candidates in this district are no name candidates with no money. Primary voters tend to be more committed and therefore more knowledgeable. Although it won't be cheap or easy, he should win the May primary as a write in candidate with a good GOTV in late April/ early May.

Running as an independent is a definite no-no. If he runs as an indepedent during the general election it will cost much more than running as a write in candidate for the May primary & he runs the risk of many uneducated Democratic voters bypassing him for the Democrat nominee which may lead to victory for the Republican candidate.

Posted by: AndTun1 at February 23, 2006 03:03 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment