The Norfolk Registrar’s office has confirmed the candidates on the ballot for the December 18 special election. Daun Hester, who won the Democratic nomination, will appear. The only other candidate to qualify is James St. John.
Lionell Spruill, Jr., who failed to make the ballot for the Democratic firehouse primary, also failed to make the ballot as an independent. He lacked the requisite number of signatures to qualify.
Little is known about St. John, except that he attempted to run a write-in campaign for the special election in the 5th Senate district. He did not seek the Republican Party’s endorsement.
So what is St. John running as Democrat, Republican, of Independent?
Posted by WD Jackson | Tuesday, October 23, 2012, 1:44 pmSt. John filed as an independent. There’s precious little available about him on the Internet, but he does belong to three Meetup.com (talk about a blast from the past) groups: the Tidewater Virginia Ron Paul Meetup, the Tidewater Libertarian Party Meetup, and the 912 First Landing Patriots, who call themselves “the education team of the Hampton Roads Tea Party.”
Posted by Randy Klear | Tuesday, October 23, 2012, 8:58 pmSorry I didn’t make that clear in my original post. A candidate cannot file as a party nominee – Republican or Democrat – without the party’s blessing. The Democrats chose their nominee at the firehouse primary. The Republicans did not hold a nominating contest.
So any candidate filing without the party’s blessing files as an independent, which is what St. John did and what Spruill, Jr. tried to do.
Posted by Vivian J. Paige | Wednesday, October 24, 2012, 8:56 amHow many signatures couldn’t Spruill get? Isn’t it a relatively low bar?
Posted by Doug Knack | Friday, October 26, 2012, 3:02 pmYes it is a low bar. Only 125 signatures are required.
Posted by Vivian J. Paige | Sunday, October 28, 2012, 11:33 am