COLUMBUS, Ohio - The favored candidate to take Rep. Bob Ney (news, bio, voting record)'s spot on the ticket can legally do so under Ohio law, the state attorney general said Thursday.
Secretary of State Ken Blackwell had sought the opinion from Attorney General Jim Petro as Republicans considered how to replace Ney, who announced this week he would not seek re-election.
State Sen. Joy Padgett is the leading candidate, and would be eligible to enter a special primary or replace Ney on the November ballot, the attorney general said.
Ohio's so-called "sore loser" law generally prevents candidates defeated in a primary from running for office in the fall as an independent or write-in. Padgett ran for lieutenant governor this spring with Petro, who lost the GOP nomination for governor to Blackwell.
Padgett's status in the May primary was not covered by the law, and she is free to seek Ney's seat, Petro said. Padgett got on the May ballot by "declaration of candidacy," a term not covered by the law, he said.
Blackwell, as secretary of state, is Ohio's chief elections officer.
Democrats probably will take the case to court once a special election is set or if Padgett is certified for the November ballot, said Brian Rothenberg, spokesman for the state Democratic Party.
So what the state attorney general for Ohio is saying is that Padgett is ineligible to run for lieutenant governor in the general election, but she is still free to run in Ney's spot for the U.S. House of Representatives. And it doesn't surprise me that the Democrats are taking this case to court--just as the Republicans took the DeLay case to court.
If the Democrats are smart, they would concentrate less on the court action of keeping Padgett off Ney's spot on the ballot, and instead start linking Padgett's name with Neys, to show that the Republican Party is still the political party that is sending its "culture of corruption" to Washington. I know that the Democrats will take this to court, but they are not going to win. Concentrate on attacking Padgett. Link Padgett's name with Neys, and the corruption in the Republican Party. There is only three months left before the general election, and Padgett has to try to get a full campaign up and running in that time. The Democrats have an opportunity to initiate a hard-charging attack against the Republicans and Padgett, and framing the issue according to the Democratic Party's terms. Take advantage of that.
Attack--again and again.
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