A federal judge refused late Thursday to remove the names of nine candidates the Green Party disavows as its own from the general election ballot.
But they still may not get to run for office.
U.S. District Court Judge David Campbell said he cannot say just yet whether the nine contenders are "sham'' candidates as Green Party alleges. And the judge said he's not sure that gives him the power to stop them from running as official nominees just because party officials object to their views.
But Campbell said what is clear is that issuing what amounts to an emergency order now removing their names from the ballot, before a full-blown hearing on the merits of the case, would not be fair to the candidates themselves.
He noted several counties are set to begin printing ballots today. Once they are printed, it would be too late to put the candidates' names back on the ballot if, after that hearing, he concludes they are entitled to run.
Thursday's order, however, doesn't end the legal fight.
Campbell rejected a request by attorneys for several counties to throw out the lawsuit entirely. Instead, he wants to hear from both sides what they think should happen next.
That leaves the door open for Keith Beauchamp, the Green Party's attorney, to argue that none of the votes cast for the nine disputed candidates should be counted when the votes are tallied on Nov. 2.
But by that point, some of the damage will have been done.
At the center of the lawsuit is Beauchamp's claim the nine contenders are not true Green Party members but instead were induced to register that way. That let them take advantage of a loophole in the law that allowed them to become Green Party nominees with just one write-in vote: their own.
Beauchamp said what makes that particularly offensive -- and he believes illegal -- is that these people were enticed to register and run as Green Party candidates by Republicans, "part of a plan to pervert our message and hurt the Democrats.''
He said Republicans figure any vote for a Green Party candidate is a vote that otherwise would have gone to a Democrat. The net result, Beauchamp said, is to give a leg-up to Republicans.
Now, with the judge refusing to block the ballots from being printed, that leaves Beauchamp with only one option: Ask that votes for them not be counted.
If Campbell were to agree, county officials would have to post notice at each of the more than 2,000 polling places informing voters that while these names remain on the ballot, any votes for them won't count.
That, however, hasn't proven particular effective: More than 36,000 Arizonans voted last month to make Dean Martin the Republican nominee for governor even though he had withdrawn his name and signs were posted in polling places, votes that otherwise would have gone to someone else.
Whether Campbell is willing to go even that far, however, remains in doubt.
Beauchamp told the judge these nine -- there originally were 11 but two dropped out -- are not true Green Party members, and not only because of their late registrations. He said their position on issues is directly contrary to those of the party.
For example, Anthony Goshorn, a contender for the state Senate in District 17, the Tempe area, said he supports God in the classroom. And congressional hopeful Richard Grayson has a swastika on his web site.
But Campbell said that does not disqualify them from deciding to run as Green Party candidates, even over the objections of party officials.
"Candidates often run for office as members of particular political parties whose views they do not wholly embrace,'' the judge wrote.
While the Green Party filed suit in federal court, the Arizona Democratic Party is attacking the problem elsewhere.
In a lawsuit filed Thursday in Maricopa County Superior Court, attorney Paul Eckstein said Arizona voters will be "deceived, misled and confused'' about the true nature of the campaigns of the Green Party write-in candidates which will affect the "purity'' of the general election. He wants Judge Robert Oberbillig to erase the candidates' names from the ballot.
That, however, may come too late: Officials in the state's two largest counties said printing will begin today.
Aside from Goshorn and Grayson, the Green Party also is challenging the nomination of Thomas Meadows for state treasurer, Theodore Gomez and Benjamin Pearcy who are running for the two open seats on the Arizona Corporation Commission, one other congressional candidate and four legislative contenders.
The lawsuit is not contesting the successful write-in efforts of to others who Beauchamp said are considered true members of the Green Party.
RichardGrayson posted at 3:45 am on Fri, Sep 10, 2010.
It would be helpful, and less hurtful especially while I am celebrating Rosh Hashona, the Jewish New Year, to explain that the swastika on my website is part of an image taken from a website called Protest Arizona, and part of the campaign against SB 1070, which I, like my party (Arizona Green Party), oppose.
Please go to my website and you will see that I support all the Ten Key Values of the Arizona Green Party, that I am not a "sham" candidate, that I have been a registered Green voter in Pinal County (Apache Junction) for over a year, that the issues I support and oppose are consistent with the platform of the Arizona Green Party.
I feel I have been Swift-boated and Shirley-Sherroded by my own party. Constantly referred to as one of the "sham" candidates, I am a genuine left-wing, liberal, progressive, antiwar, prochoice, pro-gay rights (I'm gay myself), pro-immigrant, anti-xenophobic, etc. Green.
If you do a Google search on me, look at the entry on me on Wikipedia, see information about my activity in liberal and environmental and antiwar and progay movements since the late 1960s. In other words, I am one of the people usually demonized by most East Valley residents who are conservatives.
What I never expected was to be called a right-wing Republican proto-Nazi by my fellow Green Party members. This suit is at least partly merely an intraparty dispute to weed out dissident members. I have no argument with the Green Party on ideology or platform.
Thanks for letting me set the record straight.
leonardclark posted at 3:38 pm on Sat, Sep 11, 2010.
Hello, my name is Leonard Clark and I am the Arizona Endorsed Green party Candidate for Arizona Congressional district #3 against Ben Quayle and John Hurlburd. I am writing you because of an error and what I hope was not a purposeful representation made by my Green party's lawyers at the hearing about which you write.
I attended the entire hearing and was there to hear the lawyer mis- represent Mr. Grayson's candidacy by stating to the effect that Mr. Grayson was not a true Green party candidate because he had a swastika on his blog. This was a total mis-representation as Mr. Grayson (who apparently by the way is Jewish) was demonstrating (like many of my Progressive brothers and sisters from Arizona) that Arizona is a fascist state. Whether the lawyers for my Green party leadership took the time to examine this on Mr. Grayson's blog was done purposely (which I am now sadly starting to suspect) or accidently (which I believe is not the case), this was a total mis-representation of Mr. Gray as a fellow Progressive and further, this good man deserves an apology to be wrongly smeared like this, (whether accidently or not). This is just one of the reasons that I publicly did not agree with this lawsuit and had made the pledge that if the candidate "Grandpa Goshorn" was wrongly kicked off the ballot I would withdraw from the race because I could not in good conscience be a party to such a arbitrary and unconstitutional (ala Gore 200) judicial coup.
Respectfully,
Leonard Clark please call me if you have any questions: 623-329-0284 leonardclark.net
Arizona Endorsed Green Party Candidate for Congressional district #3
September 11, 2010