Foley ballot update

[Whacker77]

The was just posted by John Gizzi at Human Events.  All may not be lost for Republicans.


With pundits and pols from Palm Beach, Florida to Washington still reeling from the resignation of Rep. Mark Foley (R.-Fla) from Congress today, the next question is who will replace the six-term Republican on the ballot in the Sunshine State’s 16th District? For that matter, given that there is little more than thirty days before the election, can Foley be replaced or is Democrat Tim Mahoney a “slam-dunk” to win the House seat and put his party closer to the 15-seat gain they need to take control of the U.S. House?

The answer, apparently, is, yes, the 52-year-old Foley can be replaced. On September 17, 2004, the Democratic nominee against Rep. Clay Shaw (R.-Fla.) in the neighboring district announced he was withdrawing from the race for health reasons. But his withdrawal letter, according to the Almanac of American Politics, “was not received until September 24 and Secretary of State Glenda Hood, after consulting with Palm Beach and Broward County officials, said it was too late to change the ballot; military and overseas ballots had already been sent out. Two Palm Beach County Democratic officials sued, and a judge in Tallahassee allowed the Democrats to nominate another candidate. . . Democrats named Robin Rorapaugh, a [congressional] aide. Ballots marked for [withdrawn nominee] Stork were deemed marked for her.” Shaw won by a margin of 63% to 35%.

[Sam Spade]

I posted before that the statute under Florida law is pretty clear.  They can nominate a replacement candidate, but Foley's name will remain on the ballot.

Where I would rate this race really depends on the quality of the candidate they nominate and the name recognition that candidate will have.

[Whacker77]

I agree with what you posted earlier, but the same rules were in effect in 2004 when Democrats sued and won the right to change the name on the ballot.  We'll see if the judges down there feel the same way when it's a Republican and not a Democrat.