Morning Digest: The surest way for indicted GOP congressman to get off the ballot? Plead guilty
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The Daily Kos Elections Morning Digest is compiled by David Nir, Jeff Singer, Stephen Wolf, and Carolyn Fiddler, with additional contributions from David Jarman, Steve Singiser, Daniel Donner, James Lambert, David Beard, and Arjun Jaikumar. Leading Off ●Morning Digest: The surest way for indicted GOP congressman to get off the ballot? Plead guilty
The Daily Kos Elections Morning Digest is compiled by David Nir, Jeff Singer, Stephen Wolf, and Carolyn Fiddler, with additional contributions from David Jarman, Steve Singiser, Daniel Donner, James Lambert, David Beard, and Arjun Jaikumar. Leading Off ● NY-27: In a quick about-face, GOP Rep. Chris Collins announced on Saturday that he would not seek re-election to New York's 27th Congressional District this fall, even though he'd insisted he'd do so following his indictment on insider trading charges on Wednesday. Campaign Action But getting off the ballot in New York at this late date is no simple matter. Probably the only plausible route available to Collins involves getting nominated for another post, since candidates in New York may only run for one office at a time. Unnamed Republicans have floated the idea of putting Collins forward for a town clerkship or for a county clerkship elsewhere in the state, though residency requirements might make that latter option impossible. It’s also conceivable that Collins could be removed from the ballot if he were judged to no longer be a resident of New York state; the chair of the Erie County GOP noted to Politico that Collins, who is extremely wealthy, also has homes in Florida and Washington, D.C. However, in litigation stemming from a 2008 election in the predecessor version of this very same district, Republicans argued to a federal judge that a candidate’s residency prior to Election Day is irrelevant for determining eligibility. While no written decision was ever issued, the court forbade the Working Families Party from removing Jon Powers from its ballot line (Powers had recently moved to D.C. for a new job after losing the Democratic primary). There is one further option for Collins. One election law expert, Alan Goldston, wryly observed, “If he really wanted to get off the ballot he could just plead guilty,” because political parties are allowed to replace candidates who are convicted of crimes. Probably not gonna happen, we’re guessing. In any event, Republicans say they’ll meet Tuesday to figure out how they might ditch Collins, which would then enable local party leaders in the eight counties that make up the district to hand-pick a replacement. Read more