Stockman says he's in

Long as we've been talking about petition signatures, let's check in with the other notorious independent campaign for this cycle, that of Steve Stockman in CD22.

Stockman has collected more than the 500 signatures needed from registered voters to land him on the November ballot, said campaign spokesman Jason Posey.

"We are continuing to collect them to show the grassroots effort that Steve has for this office," he said.

But Posey said he didn't immediately know how many total signatures the campaign had gathered, and initially told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the deadline was still a month away.

Stockman's campaign planned on turning in the signatures by the state's deadline Thursday.

Nice to see that the man hasn't lost his organizational touch since being out of office.

Secretary of State Roger Williams' office still has to verify the signatures, a process which will take five to six weeks, said spokesman Scott Haywood.

OK, I'm calling BS here. How can a process that takes 5-6 weeks to verify 45,000 signatures also take 5-6 weeks for 500? Someone needs to explain that to me. I bet I could verify 500 signatures all by myself in less time than that. I hope that was a canned response and not a real answer from the SOS' office.

For those who need a refresher on just what made ol' Steve-o special:

Stockman, who was dubbed "Freshman Flop" and "U.S. Rep. Clueless" during his only term, won election during the 1994 Republican sweep of state offices, defeating 21-term incumbent Jack Brooks, D-Beaumont. Stockman represented the 9th Congressional District, which at that time stretched from east Harris County and Galveston to Beaumont.

During his term, Stockman accused the government of "executing" members of the Branch Davidian cult after the 1993 standoff at Waco. And he claimed to have received a fax from a militia supporter that seemingly foretold the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. The fax actually was sent after the bombing.

He also called President Clinton "an abortionist."

Lampson defeated Stockman in 1996.

Good times, good times. You just had to be there in the 90s.

Posey said he doesn't think Stockman's rocky tenure in Congress will hurt his campaign this fall.

"I think he has an excellent chance. In fact, I'd go as far as say he's the front runner in the race at this point," Posey said. "I think like anyone, he's received both good and bad coverage from the media. Most of the negative coverage he's received was unwarranted. Most of the voters realize that."

(must...control...snort reflex...)

Thanks to Greg in TX22 for the link.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on May 11, 2006 to Election 2006 | TrackBack