Dems Challenge Hawkins Ballot Petition
Syracuse Post-Standard
Mike McAndrew
August 29th, 2008
Candidate off ballot in 25th C.D.
Congressional candidate David Gay conceded Thursday his campaign for the 25th District seat is over because he failed to collect enough signatures to qualify for the ballot.
The petitions for another candidate in the 25th District, Howie Hawkins of the Green Populist Party, have been challenged by a Democratic Party official in an effort to keep Hawkins off the ballot.
Half of the approximately 6,300 signatures Hawkins gathered on his nominating petitions are invalid, said Dustin Czarny, a volunteer with Democratic congressional candidate Dan Maffei's campaign.
Hawkins said he's confident he has enough valid signatures to qualify for the ballot.
Gay, who was running for elected office for the first time, had hoped to qualify as the Libertarian Party candidate in the district that stretches from Syracuse to Rochester. But Gay said he collected about 2,500 signatures on a petition, 1,000 short of the required number.
Maffei and Republican Dale Sweetland are the major party candidates in the hotly contested race to succeed retiring Rep. James Walsh, R-Onondaga. In the Nov. 4 election, Sweetland's name also will appear on the Conservative Party line and Maffei will be on the Working Families Party line.
Gay, 27, of 112 Rosewood St., said he raised about $8,000 during his campaign. He said he hopes to run for public office again but will support Sweetland in this race because Sweetland is also pro-life.
Hawkins, 55, who has been on the ballot in 13 previous elections but has never won, gathered nearly twice as many signatures on his petition as was required.
Czarny, the Democrats' 17th Ward chairman, said in his objection that 3,300 signatures on Hawkins petition are invalid because the signers are not registered voters or do not reside in the district.
The state Board of Elections has not ruled on Czarny's objection, Brehm said. State elections commissioners are expected to decide on petition objections at their Sept. 5 meeting.
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