The Republican challenge was rejected by the Iowa Secretary of State so barring an appeal, Gary Johnson will appear on the Iowa ballot.
EDITOR'S NOTE 8/31 - Well it ain't over yet, the GOP filed an appeal to be heard on September 4th in an IA district court.
At least this time he has the Iowa Attorney General's office fighting for his right to remain on the ballot.
We'll keep you updated as the events unfold.
EDITOR'S NOTE 9/4 - Gary Johnson will be on the ballot in Iowa.
Polk County District Court Judge Arthur Gamble ruled in the Johnson campaign's favor today, Iowa Secretary of State Matt Schultz has certified Gary Johnson will be on the ballot and the GOP has declined to appeal to the Iowa Supreme Court.
Huzzah, liberty wins today!
It's like déjà vu all over again.
First Michigan, then Pennsylvania challenged Gary Johnson's ballot status, now Mitt and the Iowa GOP are doing the same and trying to get the former New Mexico Governor off their ballot.
Well Gary Johnson is once again not backing down and intends to fight.
The GOP's tactics are simple and whether they are successful or not it causes the Johnson campaign to spend valuable, limited resources to defend these actions.
It's not bad enough that their cronies in the media have ignored him, that the pollsters refuse to include him or that the Republiocrat controlled Commission on Presidential Debates set an arbitrary bar to keep him off the stage with Mittens and Barry. No, now they want to take the very choice away from the electorate because their milquetoast candidate can't seal the deal on his own.
Yes, the GOP is shitting their britches because of Gary Johnson.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEContact:
Alicia Dearn
aliciadearn@garyjohnson2012.com
858-750-5800
Joe Hunter
media@garyjohnson2012.com
801-303-7924
REPUBLICANS TRY TO KEEP LIBERTARIAN GARY JOHNSON OFF THE IOWABALLOT
Romney Supporters File Challenge Urging Secretary of State to Exclude LibertarianNominees from the Ballot in November
Jay Kramer, a Mitt Romney campaign operative from Washington D.C., filed a
challenge on Friday to keep Libertarian candidate for President, Gary Johnson, from appearing on the ballot in November. The Romney campaign hired the largest law
firm in Iowa, the Des Moines based, Nyemaster Goode PC, for the challenge, which
will be heard by Iowa Secretary of State Matt Shultz on Monday at 3 pm.
“This is clearly a set up,” said the Johnson campaign’s attorney, Alicia Dearn.
“Romney can’t beat Johnson on the debate stage, so he has resorted to cronyism.
The Libertarian Party had two thousand petition signatures and should have been
on the ballot without challenge, as they have always done in the past. But
Republican Shultz [Iowa Secretary of State] – in violation of longstanding Iowa law - rejected the petition and required the Johnson campaign to caucus at the state fair. There, the Romney campaign surveilled the Johnson campaign’s activities for the sole purpose of bringing this eleventh-hour challenge,” Dearn said.
The Romney campaign’s challenge was filed Friday afternoon and set for a hearing
on Monday afternoon. The 106-page challenge includes pictures of Johnson
supporters asking fair-goers to support having Gov. Johnson and the Libertarian
Party offered as a choice on the ballot.
The challenge claims that the state fair signatures should be thrown out because the
signers are not Libertarians. “The challenge is legally frivolous,” asserts Dearn.
“You don’t have to be a registered Libertarian to want a third choice on the ballot.
Iowans deserve to choose for themselves who to vote for, which is why Gov. Johnson
should be on the ballot and allowed to debate Romney and President Obama.
Democracy suffers when voices are silenced.”
Unlike other states, Iowa has a perfect history of allowing third-party candidates
onto the ballot and is known for its independent-minded voter. “Iowa is one of the
very few states that has never kept any general election presidential candidate off
its ballot,” said ballot access historian Richard Winger. “It is a policy that saves
money and work for elections officials, because Iowa doesn’t need to tally write-in
votes for presidential candidates when all such significant candidates are on the
ballot.”
Republicans fear that Johnson, a former Republican two-term Governor from New
Mexico, will siphon votes from Romney and create a victory for Obama. It is a claim
that Governor Johnson does not shy away from. In a YouTube video titled, A Vote for
Freedom is Never Wasted, Johnson says, “They deserve to lose your vote.” Iowa is
expected to be a battleground state this election.
According to Dearn, the Romney campaign is using similar tactics to keep Governor
Johnson off the ballot in Michigan and Pennsylvania, and is pressuring the
Commission on Presidential Debates to exclude Governor Johnson from the
televised national debates. The Romney campaign has also been accused of fraud
and bullying of Ron Paul delegates in several lawsuits throughout the country and
protests by Ron Paul supporters are expected at the Republican Party convention in
Tampa later this week. “Paul supporters were treated really badly in Iowa by the
Romney campaign,” Dearn said.
As the Libertarian candidate for President, Johnson promises to submit a balanced
budget to Congress in 2013 and to reduce wasteful spending, advocates for reducing
government intrusion into the everyday lives and liberties of Americans, supports
the Constitution, and advocates for an end to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Johnson will be on the ballot in all 50 states and has been qualified by the FEC for
Federal matching funds. His running mate is retired California Superior Court Judge
and former Naval officer, Jim Gray.
# # #
If you would like more information about the legal proceedings in Des Moines,
please contact Alicia Dearn at 858-750-5800, aliciadearn@garyjohnson2012.com.
If you would like more information about Governor Gary Johnson’s 2012
Presidential campaign, or to schedule and interview with Gov. Johnson or Judge
Gray, please contact Joe Hunter, 801-303-7924, media@garyjohnson2012.com or
Natalie Dicou, 801-994-0321, nataliedicou@garyjohnson2012.com. Press kits may
be found at www.garyjohnson2012.com/media.
To believe that a vote for Johnson is a vote for Obama is ludicrous. According to isidewith.com the race is between Johnson and Obama, voting for Romney would be a waste of a vote.
ReplyDeleteAmen.
DeleteAnd we just learned that today Gary Johnson won his case and barring an appeal, will appear on the Iowa ballot.