Just when you think he’s out, supporters of disgraced former Ohio Rep. Jim Traficant are trying to pull him back in.
Backers of Traficant, one of the most eccentric current or former members of Congress (who is also fresh out of jail after serving seven years for corruption), have vowed they will go to court if he is not allowed onto the ballot as an independent. Traficant missed a deadline on Monday for running as a write-in candidate for his former seat. He filed paperwork to run for his former seat in Ohio’s 17th district as an independent back in May.
”We should be on the ballot,” Linda Kovachik, Traficant’s campaign coordinator, told the Warren Tribune Chronicle. ”We’ll keep our feet to the fire, keep their feet to the fire until someone gets so hot there has to be a decision.”
Until 2002 when he was expelled from the House, Traficant held the seat for nine terms. He was convicted on 10 felony counts of racketeering, bribery and tax evasion.
