Tamyra d'Ippolito

County Official: d'Ippolito Has Only Three Signatures Filed With Us -- Won't Qualify For Ballot

Eric Kleefeld | February 16, 2010, 12:25PM

IN-SEN candidate Tamyra d'Ippolito (D) and Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN) (inset)

Terry Burns, the Democratic member of the Board of Voter Registration in Marion County, Indiana, informs TPMDC that Tamyra d'Ippolito does not have the required ballot-petition signatures needed to run in the Democratic primary for Senate. In fact, he said, she hardly has any in his area.

In Indiana, petitions are submitted within the county where the signatures upon it were collected. The deadline to do this was noon today. Petitions are then reviewed and certified by the counties, and forwarded on to the state. In order to appear on the primary ballot for Senate, a candidate must have collected 500 signatures within each of the state's nine Congressional districts. Marion County, the home of Indianapolis, has the 7th District located entirely within its borders -- so if d'Ippolito doesn't have at least 500 signatures in this one county alone, getting on the ballot would be out of the question.

"We received this morning three signatures. And that is all we have received, so she will not qualify to be on the ballot," said Burns. He also added: "Once the noon deadline passes, that's it." In addition, only two of the signatures came from the 7th District -- the other was from the 5th District, which is partially located within Marion County.

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Tamyra d'Ippolito

Conservatives Working To Get Longshot Dem On IN-Sen Ballot

Ben Frumin | February 16, 2010, 11:23AM

IN-SEN candidate Tamyra d'Ippolito (D)

Tamyra d'Ippolito is getting some help she didn't ask for.

A cafe owner who's seeking the Democratic nomination to the Senate seat currently held by Evan Bayh, d'Ippolito can't quite seem to figure out whether she has enough signatures to get on the primary ballot and all but assure herself the Democratic nomination.

But what does seem certain is some conservatives are encouraging their followers to help round up signatures for a candidate they seem to view as not quite ready for prime time.

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Tamyra d'Ippolito

Indiana Dem Chairman: No, d'Ippolito Does Not Have 4,500 Ballot Signatures -- She Has 22

Eric Kleefeld | February 16, 2010, 11:16AM

IN-SEN candidate Tamyra d'Ippolito (D)

In an interview with TPMDC, Indiana Democratic Party Chairman Dan Parker strongly denied that cafe owner Tamyra d'Ippolito has obtained the necessary ballot-petition signatures to appear on the ballot in the Dem primary for Senate -- disputing d'Ippolito's earlier claim to have to have obtained the 500 required in each of the state's nine House districts.

"I am monitoring the situation with our boards of voter registration and our county clerks' offices. Those are the places where petitions have to be submitted for certification," said Parker. "They have to be certified in the counties and then brought to the Secretary of State's office by Friday. As of this moment, other than Evan Bayh, there's one candidate, who is a Democratic candidate [d'Ippolito], who has 22 signatures statewide."

As we have reported, Democrats were apparently expecting that nobody would successfully file for the Senate seat, given the fact that Bayh dropped out a day before the petitions were due. Under Indiana law, the state Democratic Party's central committee has the authority to name a new candidate. If d'Ippolito is indeed able to make the ballot, then the Dems would have to find some other means to get a different candidate -- or else have her as their nominee.

Tamyra d'Ippolito

D'Ippolito: I Have Enough Signatures To Get On The Ballot For IN-SEN Dem Primary

Eric Kleefeld | February 16, 2010, 10:43AM

IN-SEN candidate Tamyra d'Ippolito (D) and Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN) (inset)

Tamyra d'Ippolito, a cafe owner who has been seeking the Democratic nomination for the Senate seat currently held by Evan Bayh, just told TPMDC that she does have the minimum number of ballot-petition signatures need to get on the ballot for the Democratic primary. If her petitions do in fact work out, that would seriously complicate the efforts by the party to pick a new candidate to replace Bayh, the retiring incumbent Democrat, on the ballot this November.

In order to appear on the primary election ballot for Senate, a candidate in Indiana must obtain 500 petition signatures in each of the state's nine House districts -- and the deadline is today. Yesterday, d'Ippolito said she was about 1,000 short of the overall goal of 4,500. However, she said, in the last day signatures picked up considerably -- and she is prepared to fight any potential efforts by the Democratic Party to have enough signatures invalidated to put her below the quota.

"We have enough signatures and we're ready to go to court. We're ready to fight," said d'Ippolito. "And yes it's politics, and I'm sure there are certain Democrats, I hope they are the minority, I'm sure there are certain Democrats who will try those underhanded activities. I hope they would be wiser not to take that road."

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Tamyra d'Ippolito

Another Dem Already In Race For Bayh's Seat -- But Doesn't Have The Needed Signatures Yet

Eric Kleefeld | February 15, 2010, 12:39PM

IN-SEN candidate Tamyra d'Ippolito (D)

Indiana Democrats appear to be on a course to name a candidate for Evan Bayh's Senate seat, given the high unlikelihood that another candidate could successfully file the necessary ballot petitions with the state this week in order to enter the primary. But, there is in fact at least one other candidate besides Bayh who was already seeking to get on the ballot.

So, how is Tamyra d'Ippolito, a cafe owner in Bloomington, doing with collecting the 500 petition signatures in each of the state's nine House districts (a requirement that Bayh's campaign had already fulfilled, according to Democratic sources and published media reports)? The deadline to complete the filing process is this week.

On a phone call just now, d'Ippolito told me that she is not yet at the goal: "We're working feverishly here."

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