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Ney withdrawal could cost Ohio taxpayers half a million(The Canton Repository Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) COLUMBUS, Ohio - The decision by embattled U.S. Rep. Bob Ney to drop his re-election bid could cost Ohio taxpayers $500,000. And Democrats are preparing to challenge Ney's handpicked successor, state Sen. Joy Padgett, R-Coshocton, based on a longtime Ohio code used this year by Republicans in another congressional race. Though Ney, R-Heath, has said he will not seek a seventh term, his name will not be removed from the ballot until the Tuscarawas County Board of Election gets a letter from him. State law requires the letter to go to the most populous county in Ney's 18th congressional district, which extends from eastern through central Ohio. The local board has to accept the letter and then it has to be certified by Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell. According to James Lee, a spokesman for Blackwell, if the letter is certified before Aug. 19, or 80 days before the November election, a special primary would result. Based on past elections, Lee estimated Ohio taxpayers would foot the cost of the primary, even if there is one candidate, to the tune of $500,000. But there could be two candidates, Padgett and James B. Harris of Zanesville. Ney beat Harris in the May primary with 68 percent of the vote. "The race remains open," Harris said in a statement. A primary can be avoided if certification of Ney's letter doesn't happen until between 80 and 75 days before the election or no later than Aug. 24. Then the chairmen of the Republican Party in the district's 15 counties and the state party would select who would be on the November ballot, Lee said. There would be no primary. And should that window be missed, then Republicans may find themselves without a candidate to challenge Zack Space, the Democratic nominee and Dover law director. Padgett told the Associated Press that Ney called her Saturday and asked her to run in his place and she agreed. She did not return a telephone call from Copley Newspapers. Democrats are exploring whether Padgett can be prevented from being on the ballot because of a law dating more than 50 years called the "sore-loser provision." It prevents a losing candidate in a primary election from being a candidate in the general election of the same year, according to Columbus attorney Donald J. McTigue, who has done "cursory research" on the issue for the Democratic Party. Padgett was a candidate for lieutenant governor on the ticket with Jim Petro in May. Petro and Padgett lost to Blackwell and his running mate state Rep. Tom Raga, R-Mason. McTigue said the provision would prevent Padgett from running in the primary, but he said "it's an open question" whether the provision applies if Padgett is appointed by the party. "It could be challenged by any registered voter in the district," he said. "It depends on what happens next. It's up to the secretary of state to look into and answer these legal questions." Earlier this year, Blackwell's office sided with Franklin County Republicans who wanted to prevent Charles R. Morrison from running as an independent against incumbent U.S. Rep. Deborah Pryce, one of the party's leaders in Washington. Pryce also is being challenged by Democratic nominee Mary Jo Kilroy. Morrison ran and lost in May for a seat on the Republican Central Committee. He has filed suit in federal court in Columbus in an attempt to get on the November ballot. Reach Paul E. Kostyu at 614-222-8901 or e-mail [email protected]. |