re more OPEN SEATs!

(NOTE: forget it, gallegly has now changed his mind -- but since then there are 2 more OPEN SEATS [NY24 (Boehlert -R) & MN05 (Sabo-D)] for a total of 29, including the 4/11 special election for CA50)

it's CA24, but with some complications -- per today's "house race hotline":

Rep. Elton Gallegly (R) "announced hours" before the 3/10 filing deadline that "he will not seek re-election" because of a medical condition. He pulled out "just before candidates" had to turn in the paperwork to local county offices in order to appear on the 6/6 ballot. Gallegly, in a statement: "I have been dealing with a medical issue that is yet to be resolved. Although I am hopeful it will be resolved positively, it would not be fair to my constituents and supporters should I be forced to withdraw from the race mid-year" (Hatfield, Lompo Record, 3/13). Gallegly apparently thought he could "unfile his candidacy" and therefore extend the filing deadline. He was "wrong on both accounts" (Fleischman, Flash Report, 3/12).


Because of the timing of Gallegly's withdrawal, his name "will appear on the June primary" ballot. Harvard-educated atty. Michael Tenenbaum (R) is the only other GOPer to file for the seat. If Gallegly "receives more votes" than Tenenbaum in the primary, people can vote for him in the general -- his name will "also appear on the November general election ballot." Gallegly initially "filed his candidate forms" for the election on 2/17. Only one Dem, Presbyterian minister Jill Martinez qualified for the Dem nomination (Hatfield, Lompo Record, 3/13).