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I live in Maryland because my military orders assigned me here. I am not a Maryland resident and I do not vote here. I vote absentee. Nice try though. Can't argue a point, make an ad hominem attack instead. Mighty liberal of you. |
Posted on 09/07/2002 8:46:57 AM PDT by Joe Brower
Votes for Harris could be tossed out
BY GARY FINEOUT CAPITAL BUREAU
09/07/02
TALLAHASSEE -- Congressional candidate Katherine Harris finds herself in a situation that seems straight out of a movie.
Two years ago, as secretary of state, she issued rulings in the contested presidential election of 2000 that did not allow some counties to finish hand-counting disputed ballots.
Now, running for the 13th Congressional District, Harris is dealing with the growing possibility that a Leon County judge will not rule before Tuesday's primary on whether she should be removed from the ballot. That means Republican voters could wind up voting for Harris and having their votes tossed out later.
Lawyers representing Harris and fellow Republican candidate John Hill speculated Friday that Judge Kevin Davey would wait to rule on Hill's lawsuit until after the election is over.
Hill's lawsuit says that Harris did not properly qualify for the ballot since Harris did not turn in a resign-to-run letter when she qualified on July 15. On Aug. 1, after learning of her mistake, Harris sent a letter to Gov. Jeb Bush saying that she had resigned as of July 15. The lawsuit also maintains Harris did not sign the proper oath required of all Florida candidates.
Davey heard arguments in the case more than a week ago. The ruling was expected this past week but never came. A ruling on Monday would leave too little time for an appeal to be decided before the Republican primary. The winner of the primary will take on one of four Democrats also seeking the seat now held by retiring Rep. Dan Miller, R-Bradenton.
"I would have thought it would have been sooner," said Donna Blanton, the main Tallahassee lawyer representing Harris. "We're in the same boat everyone else is. We're just waiting."
Davey raised the possibility of waiting to rule when he asked at last week's hearing whether it was possible to remove Harris' name from the ballot so close to the primary date. Both sides agreed that Davey could instruct elections supervisors to not count ballots cast for Harris instead of changing the ballots.
"It may have taken the pressure off the judge to get an early ruling out," said Hugh Ferrell, the Sarasota lawyer representing Hill, a former TV news anchor.
Ferrell also speculated that Davey would wait until after the election is over so it won't "skew" the results of the primary. He said that the judge knows that either side would likely appeal the ruling and this way there would be time to resolve an appeal between the primary and the Nov. 5 general election.
"I wish he had ruled," said Ferrell. "But I don't envy the position he is in. Either way it's a tough decision. I think that's why it's taking him so long."
The SHT (that's "Sarasota Herald-Tribune"!) ^ |
ROFL !!
It sure isn't a good way to start. It makes one wonder if she is a competent politician or just another inheritee of the wealthy class buying into office.
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I live in Maryland because my military orders assigned me here. I am not a Maryland resident and I do not vote here. I vote absentee. Nice try though. Can't argue a point, make an ad hominem attack instead. Mighty liberal of you. |
As a former MD resident (Calvert County), I know that THREE of about 60+ districts control the politics while the other's are mostly STRONG CONSERVATIVE! I believe that Calvert County votes 70+% republican.
Katherine probably had to take a long bath after this photo shoot.
ROFL !!
Too bad there isn't also a "Sarasota Independent". . . then they could merge, and you would have an acronym that would be utterly appropriate! ;-)
Well, if they were smart they wouldn't be republicrats ;-)
Resign to run laws have been ruled unConstitutional and Florida Law was changed to meet those requirements. If a person runs for a federal office which overlap their term (in this case there was an overlap of 3 days, but that is another issue) they are automatically considered to have resigned. However they did not change the law to make it as clear as they should have, and a strict reading of the Florida code sounds like the written resignation still applies to federal offices, which is redundant to the automatic resignation. This case should be thrown out though because if the law is interpreted the other way it would be unConstitutional.
FYI she has represented my district 13 as FL State Senator from 1994-98; then she was elected as FL Secretary of State in 1998. She showed grace under an onslaught of personal attacks and courage in upholding FL's election laws during the post Nov. 2000 election period.
She has an MA from Harvard in Public Administration(International Trade) and a BA in History. She's a fourth generation Floridian!
IMHO the fact that her family's wealth was the result of her Grandfather's business acumen & farming skills shouldn't be held against her. She has worked hard for Sarasota & Florida.
She didn't 'buy' these offices...she earned the them the 'old fashioned way'....she was elected by a majority of the voters!
I'm sure her grace, warmth & ability had an impact even on the liberal Alan Colmes.
I'm sure her grace, warmth & ability had an impact even on the liberal Alan Colmes.
You're welcomed, and I'm sure you're right. The pleasure was all mine. I sure hope things work out where this RINO competitor loses his case. He is a loser, so it sounds to me.
Here, btw, is a picture of Colmes that cracks me up every time I see it.......
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