I’ve been contacted by several people advancing this theory, explaining what happenned today with Gallegly…
Supposedly the Congressman filed for reelection, and THEN decided (due to health reasons) that he would not run again – apparently not realizing that once you file your candidacy, you cannot “unfile” – thus he is on the ballot, and because he (the incumbent) technically filed for re-election, filing closed. I was told that Gallegly had assumed he would be able to “unfile” and this filing would be open for another week….
Now we have this bizarre situation of Gallegly on the GOP ballot but not wanting to be, this unknown guy, Tannenbaum.
Rumor has it that Strickland may seek legal recourse on Monday, asking a judge to extend filing in light of this bizarre thwarting of the democratic process…
March 11th, 2006 at 12:00 am
Jon–
From the Secretary of State’s list, it doesn’t appear that Tannenbaum or anyone else other than Gallegly even started the filing process, much less finished it. Going by that, it appears that the only Republican on the ballot for Gallegly’s seat will be Gallegly himself, who according to Section 8800 of the California election code may not withdraw.
–Rick Dykema
March 11th, 2006 at 12:00 am
It appears the Secretary of State’s list is incomplete even though they’ve posted an update since I posted the previous comment. Tannenbaum still doesn’t show up on the SoS list, but neither do candidates in the 50th CD who clearly have qualified (per the SD Co. Registar’s site) for the regular primary in addition to the special election.
The LA Times today says Tannenbaum has qualified, so I’m going to go with that. (The Ventura Co. Registar’s site still doesn’t list any current candidates.)