The voters of Georgia’s 10th congressional district will choose a new member of the House on June 19. Anyone who pays a filing fee of $4,950 will appear on the June 19 ballot, with a party label of his or her choice (Georgia doesn’t have registration by party). The dates for filing the declaration of candidacy and paying the fee are between April 24 and noon on April 26. No petition is needed, since this is a special election.

One Libertarian, Dr. Jim Sendelbach, has already announced that he will run. His participation will be historic. This will be the first time since 1942 that a candidate will have appeared on the Georgia ballot for U.S. House, with a party label other than “Democratic” or “Republican”. In regularly-scheduled elections, Georgia not only requires the same large filing fee; Georgia also requires a petition signed by 5% of the number of registered voters in the district is required. No third party candidate has ever complied with that law, which was passed in 1943. An independent last complied with it in 1964.