Starrett Stays on the Ballot

Despite a challenge by Republican attorney and former legislator Kelly Clark, state officials have determined that Constitution Party candidate Mary Starrett will remain on the 2006 gubernatorial ballot. From the AP:

In a letter Thursday to Clark, the Oregon attorney general's office said the alleged violation — even if it's found to be true — "would not disqualify the challenged nominee from the ballot."

"Especially in light of the posture and timing of the alleged procedural defect, exclusion from the ballot would not be an appropriate remedy," the attorney general's office said. ...

Starrett has accused Clark of being in cahoots with Saxton supporters to try to keep her off the ballot.

Clark, who insists he is operating independently of the Saxton campaign and the Oregon Republican Party, has said he plans to file a lawsuit soon in Marion County Circuit Court seeking to have Starrett removed from the ballot.

Earlier this week, Ridenbaugh Press questioned Kelly Clark's approach. Randy's argument: Despite his usual stance as the "David" fighting "Goliath", in this case he's carrying the water for the big bad GOP against minor party upstart Mary Starrett.

On Friday, the ever-evolving Oregon governor’s race wheeled again as it spun - unpredictably - on the axis of one of the more intriguing personalities in recent Oregon politics: Kelly Clark. ...

Willamette Week wrote, ” The question at this point seems not to be whether Clark’s mind is open, but what could possibly be going through it. He is a sex offender who has made a mint defending the sexually abused, and he’s also a former gay-rights advocate being paid to dismantle the biggest gay-rights victory in Oregon history. Clark sees no inconsistency, because in both cases he says he is motivated by the same dominating passion: disgust with the misuse of power. ‘I get to represent the little guy going up against the big guy,’ he says. ‘I absolutely love that, whether it’s the church, the government, insurance companies, banks.’”

Where in all this does his new action, announced on Friday, fit in? When he says he plans to file an action seeking to disqualify Constitution Party nominee Mary Starrett from the November general election ballot for an obscure gray-area possible legal violation, whose power abuse is it that he’s disgusted with?

And over at Loaded Orygun, they had another wrinkle -- That Kelly Clark's complaint is completely bogus:

So, if they don't really hold a nominating convention, how can they be held to a rule that defines when they should notify people about that convention? Does the delegate selection then become the convention? Does the ORS mean to say that they must have a convention? These are questions that a lawyer might best answer. Surely Kelly Clark knows the answers, right? He's researched this before filing a complaint, right?

Well, not necessarily. This IS Kelly Clark we're talking about. It's only been about a year since the SoS sent him a letter explaining all this, from the LAST time the Republicans tried to get the CP kicked off the ballot. ...

I think now I understand why Starrett was more amused than anything else--they must have shaken their heads at CP HQ, wondering how much of a dolt you have to be to get spanked on a complaint and then file it again exactly the same way next election.

Discuss.