Gov. Charlie Crist (I-FL), who left the Republican Party to run for Senate as an independent, is now running into one of many complications of his new independent status. As the St. Petersburg Times reports, Crist will be listed almost at the very bottom of the ballot, in the ninth position out of ten.
Under state law, Republican Marco Rubio will be listed first as the candidate of the party currently holding the governor’s mansion, followed by Democrat Kendrick Meek, then various minor parties candidates, and then independents in the order in which they filed their papers. As the paper reports, Crist already seems to be getting tripped up by this development — even he’s confused about where he’ll be listed.
Crist said Wednesday he didn’t think the placement of his name on the ballot was cause for concern, but even he was not correct about its location.
“We’re going to be listed eighth on the ballot as an independent,” he said. “So if you want independence, go to eight.”
Only, it’s nine.
I am somewhat reminded of this ad from 2006, from Sen Joe Lieberman’s (I-CT) independent campaign after he lost the Democratic primary, telling voters where to find him on the ballot:
The TPM Poll Average shows Rubio leading with 39.1%, Crist with 30.6%, and Meek at 21.2%.
Eric Kleefeld
Eric Kleefeld joined TPM as an intern for the final months of the 2006 midterm elections, and then kept showing up for work. His other interests include guitars, old comic books and the politics of various English-speaking countries.
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