On May 20, U.S. Senator Robert Bennett (R-Utah) said he won’t run for re-election in November as a write-in candidate. See this story.
He can’t get on the ballot as an independent candidate because of the March deadline, although that deadline could probably be overcome in court. He also can’t get on the ballot in November as an independent because of the state’s sore loser law. Although he did not lose a primary this year, he failed to receive enough votes at the Republican Party endorsement convention to qualify for the primary ballot. Some commentators have said he lost a primary this year, but that is not accurate. The primary is June 22.
Could he sue to run as an independent instead?
He could sue if he wanted to.
Has that been successful before?
Lawsuits to overturn early petition deadlines (even for non-presidential independents) that were several months before the primary have won in 15 states and only lost in one state, Texas.
The US Supreme Court even summarily affirmed one of those decisions, Lendall v Jernigan, in which Arkansas wanted independent candidates (for office other than president) to submit a petition in April, and held its primaries in May. So a lawsuit against the deadline would almost certainly win.
But a lawsuit against the sore loser law would probably lose, even though there has never been a precedent in which the “Sore loser” only lost at a convention, not at a primary.
I think it is time to make a precedent. I hope he sues for this.
#4 Texas does not require petitions for independent candidates to be filed several months before the primary. In fact, Texas does not permit signatures to be gathered until after the primary.
He won’t do it, he wont go to all that trouble; he’s been with the GOP for too long to do such a thing.
Plus he’s too establishment to be an independent candidate, if I was a Utahan, I sure as Hell wouldn’t vote for him.