No, this is not a late diary on Bob Ney declaring himself off the 2006 ballot. But if you missed it, Ney did finally give in and will NOT appear on the ballot in Ohio's 18th District this November.
This morning, word got out that State Senator Joy Padgett was to be hand-picked as his successor on the ballot. Padgett's a real nasty piece of work as well, having attacked her 2004 opponent for being "soft on terrorism". Padgett's opponent, Terry Anderson, was a friend to my campaign...and she attacked him using a picture with Hezbollah terrorists. Problem was, Anderson was CONFRONTING the people who had kidnapped and imprisoned him when he was an AP correspondent. Nice woman, Padgett is.
However, due to a law that I believe should be instituted in CT (and I've discussed this before), Padgett may be forbidden to run in place of Ney.
It's called the "Sore Loser Law", and ALL Ohio candidates are required to sign it when they turn in their petitions for candidacy. It declares that no candidate, if they should lose on primary day, may return to the balot for the general election. It's intent was to keep candidates from mounting an independent bid after the voters have rejected said candidate in a primary.
Padgett ran in a primary this year, as Lt. Gov under Jim Petro's failed bid against Ken Blackwell for the Governor's slot on the Republican ticket. As such, she is not permitted to return to the ballot in Ohio in the general election.
Looking further into this potential clusterfuck, it also appears that James Harris, who received 32% of the vote in the primary against Ney, would also be unable to run.
And the more you think about it, the harder it seems that the Republicans will be able to find a successor to Ney that hasn't lost in a primary this year AND wants to resign from their own seat to run in a tainted district.
This could get good.