SS24 - Rosemary Palmer To Replace Emanuel Cotronakis On Ballot

Update: More about this story in a more recent post.

Jeff has the story over on Ohio Daily Blog:

Word is that 10th Congressional District primary candidate Rosemary Palmer (D-Cleveland) will be replacing attorney Emanuel Cotronakis (D-Bay Village) as the candidate for the GOP-held open seat in the 24th Ohio Senate District. Term-limited State Rep. Tom Patton (R-Strongsville) is the GOP contender. Cotronakis will be officially withdrawing soon, reportedly to focus on business.

To learn more about the 24th Senate District race, click here.

I agree with Jeff that it will be good to have an active candidate running for this Senate seat located wholly in Cuyahoga County, however, I seem to remember a controversy surrounding Joy Padgett running for Congress in 2006.

Let's review what happened. Right wing wacko State Senator Joy Padgett, she of the personal bankruptcy with suspicious preference payment activity right before the bankruptcy, was picked to be Jim Petro's running mate in his ill fated primary run for Governor.

Once Bob Ney was forced to resign his 18th district Congressional seat, Joy jumped into the special primary to run for his seat against Democratic nominee Zack Space. In the event, Padgett was beaten like a Narc in a biker bar, but during the special primary the words "Sore Loser Law" were bandied about since she had lost in the primary and then was running again in the same cycle.

A little googling found this:

Ohio: AG rules Padgett not barred by 'sore loser' law
The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports: Ohio Sen. Joy Padgett's unsuccessful run for lieutenant governor earlier this year does not prevent her from running in a special election for the GOP congressional ballot slot vacated by Bob Ney, according to an opinion issued Thursday afternoon by her former running mate, Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro.

Petro's opinion also says it would be legal for party officials to appoint Padgett to the slot instead of holding a special election. Padgett ran for statewide office on the unsuccessful gubernatorial ticket headed by Petro.

Democrats say they don't believe Padgett is eligible to run, and they will challenge the decision in court.

"The Republican corrupt machinery has once again narrowly interpreted the law in their favor," said Ohio Democratic Party spokesman Brian Rothenberg.

Rothenberg said Padgett should be disqualified by both a "sore loser" statute designed to keep failed primary candidates from gaining slots on the November ballot, and a provision the Ohio legislature adopted to prevent Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ted Strickland, a congressman from Lisbon, from seeking re-election to his congressional seat if he lost the gubernatorial primary. -- Padgett eligible to seek Ney ballot slot, Petro says

And this:

State Sen. Joy Padgett, Ney’s hand-picked successor for his seat, could fall under a little-known provision of Ohio election law, dubbed the sore loser provision. It prevents a candidate who loses in one primary from running in another during the same election cycle. Earlier this year, Padgett was the primary running mate of gubernatorial hopeful James Petro, who lost to the ticket of Ken Blackwell and his running mate, Ohio State Rep. Tom Raga.

Even if Padgett succeeds in getting her name on the new primary ballot, the controversy could invite other Republicans to jump into the unexpected race. James Harris, who lost to Ney in the Republican primary in May, said he’s considering running again — although the sore loser provision may apply to him, too.

Now searching the Ohio Revised Code (a fun experience) finds this:

No person who seeks party nomination for an office or position at a primary election by declaration of candidacy or by declaration of intent to be a write-in candidate and no person who is a first choice for president of candidates seeking election as delegates and alternates to the national conventions of the different major political parties who are chosen by direct vote of the electors as provided in this chapter shall be permitted to become a candidate by nominating petition or by declaration of intent to be a write-in candidate at the following general election for any office other than the office of member of the state board of education, office of member of a city, local, or exempted village board of education, office of member of a governing board of an educational service center, or office of township trustee.

Reading this carefully seems to support the position that Person X can be appointed to run for a seat if they lost a primary during the same cycle.

However, there are two things:

Once a primary is over, the only way to get back on the ballot is by an appointment, so what would be the purpose of the statute? So is the intention of the statute to prevent someone from filing a primary petition and then pulling out and then be eligible to run for another office in the general election?

If so, then Michael Todd is in trouble as he ran for Congress in the 16th district, then pulled out to run for State Senate in the 22nd district and then finally settled on Medina COunty Treasurer.

In the event, of course, Padgett stayed on the ballot and was soundly defeated by Space, something that Space will do again this cycle.

But the troubling thing is the quote from the then official spokesman for the Ohio Democratic Party shown above.