Day 2 of collecting signatures
Day 2 of collecting signatures- and shared with you on YouTube. Today, you can see Dave Crowell of Custom Frame Services, Vicky Valerin of Tri-College Bookstore and Rob Degenhart of Park Hills Crossing sign my petitions.
Already, you can read in the Dayton Daily News that the Democratic head of the Board of Elections, Steve Harsman was trying to see if I could be rejected for running in the special election because he rejected the valid signatures of voters who wanted to see me on the ballot when MacNealy got on. You can also read that the Montgomery County Democratic Party is already thinking about endorsing in a primary- instead of letting the Democratic voters decide. These are the people who have done nothing to find candidates to run against Turner for the last 8 years.
I don’t know MacNealy’s campaign manager, Joe Roberts- and would be interested to see his positions. Anybody know who this guy is? Does he have a site with his positions? Has he been involved in local politics? Has he run for anything previously?
From the DDN:
DAYTON — Dayton activist and business owner David Esrati is the latest Democrat to announce that he’s running for Congress to challenge U.S. Rep. Mike Turner in November.
On Friday, May 21, Esrati said he has started collecting the 50 signatures required to get his name on the ballot to run in the 3rd Congressional District. The district covers most of Montgomery County, northern Warren County and all of Clinton and Highland counties.
Political consultant Joe Roberts of Kettering, who announced he was running earlier this week, picked up candidate petitions on Friday.
The party’s former candidate, Dr. Mark A. MacNealy of Vandalia, informed the Montgomery County Board of Elections earlier this week that he is no longer seeking the 3rd Congressional District seat held by Turner. Roberts was working for MacNealy before he dropped out of the race.
Steve Harsman, director of the Montgomery County Board of Elections, proposed to the Ohio secretary of state a deadline of June 10 for candidates to file petitions for a special election to be July 13. He expects a decision from the state by Monday.
The state will pay for the special election estimated to cost between $300,000 – $325,000. Esrati ran in the Democratic Primary for the 3rd congressional District in 2008 and lost to Jane Mitakides who lost to Turner in the general election. Esrati’s last election was a bid in 2009 for Dayton city commissioner.
Esrati’s petitions to run for Congress in this year’s May 4 primary were rejected by the board of elections because his candidacy declaration was not properly signed and dated. Harsman asked the Ohio secretary of state to determine if Esrati’s earlier filing prevented him from seeking the office again.
“It’s the secretary of state’s opinion that he can file for it,” Harsman said.
Esrati said he is video taping citizens as they sign his candidate petitions. Esrati, owner of The Next Wave advertising agency, plans to incorporate the video footage into his campaign ads.
“I have a passion for honest, open government,” Esrati said. “I can bring accessibility. I can bring new thinking. I can bring a true independent perspective that’s not going to sell out to corporations and special interest groups.”
Roberts said he’s running because he’s tired of seeing families suffer.
“We really need someone to step up with a middle class background who understands what it is to live from paycheck to paycheck,” he said.
The Montgomery County Democratic Party plans to look at all candidates who file, then decide whether to endorse, said Mark Owens, chairman of the party.
I’ve had a lot of calls of support today- and I’ve been thanked for posting the actual petition form online (something our Board of Elections isn’t capable of) so others can take it out and run as well.
Primaries should give voters choices- including to vote against me. That’s the American way- or at least it was until we became a plutocracy thanks to the Wall Street Casino. A few positive comments on the DDN piece would be appreciated- the haters are out in full force.
If you’d like to sign the petitions, drop me a line. Thank you.
Commenting done at DDN. You know, with all of the discussion over there, if they actually participated in the voting process they would be able to see your point of not having choice. They sound like my mother – complaining about the results without actually willing to register or vote to add their vote for a chance at something different.