That until-now little known, minor candidate in the Indiana Democratic senate primary, Tamyra d’Ippolito, just told our Eric Kleefeld that she now has the requisite number of signatures to get on the primary ballot.
Bear in mind, the deadline for filing the signatures is today. So if d’Ippolito has the signatures and as long as too many of them aren’t thrown out (a real question), that would leave her as the only name on the ballot in the Democratic primary, effectively making her the Democratic nominee. Holding this seat this year is going to be a serious challenge regardless of who they field. But observers don’t seem to think d’Ippolito would have a shot even in the best of years.
The logical fallback for Dems is to consolidate around an alternative candidate and mount a write-in campaign. That’s doable but not an easy road.
Another remaining question is what role if any Republicans may have played helping her get those signatures lined up on 18 hours notice.
