Ohio House Candidate(Democrat) Fails to Qualify

[RedEarth]

WASHINGTON (AP) - A Democratic candidate considered the party's best hope to hold onto a key House seat from Ohio failed to collect enough signatures to qualify for the party primary.

A county election board ruled Wednesday in Lisbon, Ohio, that state Sen. Charlie Wilson had only 46 valid signatures on his petition for candidacy, four shy of the 50 he needed to qualify for the race.

"I am obviously disappointed with this decision today," Wilson said. "I am exploring a number of options and am confident that, in November, I will be on the ballot and I will win the privilege and responsibility of representing Ohio families in Congress."

After incumbent Rep. Ted Strickland decided to run for governor, national Republicans targeted the race as their best chance to pick up a House seat in what promises to be a tough year for the party.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060223/D8FUH0N8G.html

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

1. How the hell can you fail to collect fifty signatures?

Jeezus.

[GrpCaptMandrake]

3. The same people

who forced Paul Hackett out of the Senate race gave this guy bogus signatures.

[Jane Austin]

5. Good gosh

How do you know this?

Can you tell us more?

[GrpCaptMandrake]

16. Sorry

Should've used the :sarcasm: emoticon.

Nonetheless, I'm getting to where every time I hear about Ohio Democratic politics, I think of that great movie line "Forget about it, Jake. It's Chinatown." Same thing applies to the Buckeye State.

[Massachusetts]

7. The "Buck Stops" Where?

[mod mom]

41. See, this is why some of us in Ohio have been screaming about the Ohio Dem

Party. It's called incompetence! They didn't protect the votes of their base. They have had multiple breakins (not really though, since alarm systems in Lucas didn't go off and at Ohio Dem Party HQ in Columbus theives of sensitive data went through an open window into then chair Denny White' office. It is UFB!

[zanne]

2. That is SO hard to believe.

He couldn't round up 50 valid signatures? Impossible.

[KittyWampus]

19. Maybe some signatures were erroneously invalidated.

[ClassWarrior]

23. I'm guessing the Cons invalidated signatures wholesale.

16-5.

NGU.

[zanne]

26. cryingshame--You had me doubting my sanity!

That little blinking "eye" was driving me nuts--"Did I see it blink? It's not blinking now--did it really blink? Let me try it again from the beginnng.......". Aghhh!

[mod mom]

42. Usually you factor this in and know you have get more. Not exactly

brain surgery to get 50 VALID signatures.

[Massachusetts]

4. 46 valid signatures on his petition for candidacy, four shy of the 50

Mr. Wilson DIDN'T deserve the seat if thats the best he could DO! NO excuses please, that was total incompetence on HIS part.

[Mithras61]

6. As I understand it...

he actually submitted MORE than 50 signatures, but some of them were from outside the district (remember this could easily have been an "across the street" or the next house down scenario with the way district lines are drawn now).

[Massachusetts]

8. The Fact is

Mr. Wilson wasn't prepared for this minor task! The blame is on HIS shoulders.

[Kierkegaard]

12. Exactly.

If you aren't sure that all of your signatures are valid, get a couple hundred. Hell get 1,000, but make sure you have what you need.

[trogdor]

46. That's what we did for Howard Dean in New York.

The Dean campaign could have very easily set up a kiosk somewhere in New York City and gotten the signatures he needed to get on the ballot. No. We fanned out across the state and got him lots and lots of signatures from every county, totalling ten times what he needed. Alas, all for naught.

[jamesinca]

buy a map

get one of the district, park your ass in the middle of it at a grocery store or walk those neighborhoods. It would take about 10 hours. Go to the county clerks office and get the voter registration list, then walk the neighborhoods. This guy is a slack ass loser until he shows otherwise, and winning the election does not change that.

[Mithras61]

15. I'm not disputing that he failed to perform even the most basic function..

required to run for office as a legit candidate (that is - not a write-in candidate). I'm just pointing out that he actually DID submit more signatures than was required, but that the gatherer(s) were so careless as to get signatures from outside his district. In fact, if he was such a fine candidate, why did he try to cut it this close? Good heavens, I'm not a candidate and could easily collect that number from in my own neighborhood without even putting any significant effort into it (I'm active in a few things locally).


But in response to those who claimed he submitted only 50, he actually submitted more (but not many, and apparently no where near enough).

[jamesinca]

40. I came off poorly in that one, sorry about that.

I meant to have that pointed at the candidate, not you.

[Le Taz Hot]

14. You're usually GIVEN this information

in the election packet you obtain from the city/county when you decide to run for office. Even if it didn't come in the packet you can get it from the County Clerk's office -- the same place from where you obtain the election packet. :dunce:

[OKNancy]

9. More: his options

http://www.wvnstv.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=8940

I am exploring a number of options and am confident that in November, I will be on the ballot." So how can he do that? He can run as an Independent of course, or urge Democrats to write his name in on primary election day. Amanda Wurst, who's just been hired to handle the crisis, says Wilson won't speak to the media until late this week or early next. This seat came open when Ted Strickland, a Democrat, decided to run for Governor. National Republicans have targeted it as a chance to pick up a seat. There chances have just improved.

[Orangepeel]

45. In Florida, you can pay a fee to get on the ballot

I don't know about Ohio, but in Florida, there are two ways to qualify: collect signatures or pay a fee. Candidates often try the signature route, but if they don't make it, they can pay a fee that varies in size by the particular office they are running for (the number of signatures also varies in size).

I imagine there must be some similar provision in Ohio, just because well financed candidates (*cough*republicans*cough*) aren't going to bother with collecting signatures.

[OKNancy]

10. and - some blame his son "sources not sympathetic to Wilson"

Some sources not sympathetic to Wilson speculate that the candidate relied too heavily on his son, Jason, who's currently serving as his campaign manager. Still, that alone doesn't explain the campaign's failure to get only 50 valid signatures -- a very low hurdle for ballot access. The requirement is, in a sense, silly, but it's not hard to understand.

Dems are now considering two options: running Wilson as a write-in candidate in the primary or collecting 1,886 signatures for him as an independent candidate.

The write-in approach seems more likely. The two other Dem candidates -- ex-GOP candidate Bob Carr and John Luchansky -- are obscure and are unlikely to draw much support in a primary. If Wilson's write-ins surpass the other two candidates' vote totals, he'll appear on the general election ballot.

There's not too much precedent for candidates winning without being on the ballot. The most recent parallel comes from local politics. In the 2002 DC mayoral primary, Tony Williams handily defeated Willie Wilson with a write-in campaign. And in 1994, ex-Rep. Linda Smith won the WA 03 GOP primary on write-ins after a last-minute withdrawal from the leading candidate.

http://hotlineblog.nationaljournal.com/archives/2006/02/charlie_wilson.html

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

13. Are we entirely sure we even *want* him on the ballot after this?

I mean, this is a really stunning lack of... a lot of things, really.

[EFerrari]

24. The write in option is a trap. The same cons that invalidate

your signatures then invalidate the votes you get. That happened here to a very popular candidate here. She was clearly elected and she was not seated.

[Kierkegaard]

11. Fer cryin' out loud.

It's not like the Punks need our help in Ohio. When are we going to stop shooting ourselves in the foot?

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

17. This Is Why Our Country Is Over

People wonder why I talk about getting the hell out of the U.S., instead of staying and fighting. Here is a PERFECT example.

Not only is the other side pure Evil, our side is INCOMPETENT. No matter who is in power, we're Frickin' Doomed! I really think this country is pretty pathetic sometimes. And this is why.

[MidwestTransplant]

18. That's totally rediculous

I don't know what the rules in Ohio are but in Illinois, candidates turn in far more than necessary just in case some are bad. I can't believe this guy couldn't get 50 good ones.

[armadafalls]

20. It is not that hard

My wife ran for an Ohio state senate seat in 2004 and needed signatures in order to qualify to get on the democrat's primary ballot. I collected all of the signatures myself. I went to a borders bookstore, a Tops supermarket a public library and contacted all of the democrat politicians that lived in the district. We got the necessary signatures and lost in the primary election 52%-48%. In my opinion there is no excuse for not getting enough valid signatures.

[cmd]

21. No excuse for it, but here was the problem

Charlie collected signatures in his home county, Belmont, which is a split county. Lots of enthusiastic supporters signed his petition without realizing that they were on the other side of the dividing line. Charlie didn't follow up on their addresses. He filed, then found out that he had a problem, gathered more signatures and tried to file again. That was a no no. The first filing stood. He didn't do his homework, now he's out.

[seriousstan]

29. Lots of enthusiastic supporters ?? He started with just over 95 sigs.

I can get more sigs than that with a keg and a frisbee.

[bluestateguy]

22. There is no excuse for such idiocy

You get several hundred if need be. You ask the people if they are registered voters. You make sure that all signatories live in the district.

50 signatures? What a damn fool.

Not all election probelms can be blamed on Diebold, Blackwell and unsupportable conspiracy theories.

[ClassWarrior]

25. I see the blame-the-Democrats-first crowd is out in full force.

16-5.

NGU.

[ISUGRADIA]

27. So why shouldn't he be blamed

signatures are either valid or the are not. A competent campaign doesn't fuck up basic requirements.

50 signatures is not a high hurdle. You get a few hundred and check to have a buffer. How this is not his fault you tell me.

[seriousstan]

30. I see the make any lame-brained excuse first crowd is out of touch still.

[Innocent Smith]

34. question

What does 16-5 and NGU mean?

[mitchtv]

35. if the asshat fits...

[mod mom]

43. Maybe you should come to Ohio and find out for yourself.

[ISUGRADIA]

28. I checked there are 9 counties and parts of 3 counties in this district

sounds like they did their petition collecting in one that was split and fucked up big time. 20 sigs from each of the 9 full counties = 180 sigs, buffer and no problem. Sounds like his campaign manager (his son!) should be fired.

[RedEarth]

31. More...... A Dumb Mistake May Cost Democrats

For months, Democratic insiders have been touting their candidate in Ohio’s 6th District, state Senator Charlie Wilson. They’ve been arguing that the socially conservative Democrat fits the district perfectly, and that he will easily hold retiring Congressman Ted Strickland’s open House seat in Southeastern Ohio.

But Wilson and his campaign team apparently have trouble with both arithmetic and geography, and the campaign’s surprising ineptness suddenly puts Democratic chances of retaining the district in doubt.

Wilson submitted just 46 valid signatures, four short of the 50 he needed to get his name on the May 2 primary ballot, in part because his campaign submitted signatures from people who don’t live within the 6th Congressional District. (In an obvious irony, Wilson himself lives in the neighboring 18th C.D., not in the 6th District.)

Wilson took much of the blame, admitting that he didn’t realize that his home county, where he got most of the signatures, is split between two Congressional districts. Most campaigns use the signature-gathering process as an opportunity to build a list for fundraising and future voter contact. Wilson, apparently, didn’t pay any attention to the signatures or plan to use them to his advantage.

This is a conservative Democratic district, and without Wilson on the November ballot -- either by winning a write-in campaign for the Democratic nomination, through a successful Independent bid during the general election or by selecting him to fill a vacancy if the eventual primary winner drops out of the contest -- Democrats will likely lose the seat. The GOP nominee is Ohio House Speaker Pro Tem Chuck Blasdel, a credible candidate who was seen as a formidable Republican nominee even before Wilson’s ballot access problem developed.

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2006/02/23/a_dumb_mistake_may_cost_democrats.html

[Divernan]

33. Fact that he's already a State Senator blows my mind!

I was wondering why the state Dem Committee hadn't briefed him on getting on the ballot. That was because I assumed he was new to the political scene. But as one holding office as a state senator, he should have been well aware of overlapping boundaries of different state and federal districts. For one thing, when constituents ask a state senator or legislator for help with a federal question - which happens all the time,because many constituents don't understand the different duties/powers of state and federal representatives, state elected reps/senators have always warned their staffs to be extremely careful not to step on some other elected person's toes. As a state legislative staffer, I knew which of the various townships, boroughs, etc., were in which federal congressional districts. And yes, sometimes the dividing line ran right through a neighborhood. If I had trouble figuring it out, all I had to do was call the congressman's local office and they would check their map to answer my questions.

Sadly, if Ohio state senators are like Pennsylvania's they get extremely self-important the longer they're in office, and get insulted if you try to tell them how to do anything. bunch of prima donnas.

[depakid]

44. Ohio again

I would sure like to know why so many outright bizarre stories come out of that state.

Is there something in the water? Every time I turn around it seems like there's some irrationality or another going on there.

How can you not gather 50 valid signatures? I could do that in an afternoon. Hell, I could get 150 or more- just to be sure.

[brentspeak]

32. Why is it we constantly rescue defeat from the jaws of victory?

The Republicans are more vulnerable this year than in any of the past 6 years, yet the Democrats can't seem to stop themselves from blowing golden opportunities.

[mitchtv]

36. all I can say.. "What a fiucking nitwit"

[mike923]

37. If he couldn't get this organized properly...

would we really want him representing us?

[David Zephyr]

38. Hi mitchtv! I agree. What kind of moron can't get 50 legit signatures.

Any city councilmember in any town in America could have done better...because they do do better.

This is what happens when the Democratic Party "appoints" people: they expect to be carried into office without working for it.

It is disgraceful.

[panzerfaust]

39. mole?

or possibly someone made him an offer he couldn't refuse

No sitting politician could be that incompetent?