Ney Successor Wins Ruling; Dems Will “Probably” Try To Block Her

The Ohio Attorney General has ruled that state Senator Joy Padgett is not precluded by the “sore loser” statute from running for Rep. Bob Ney’s (R-OH) seat.

But that was no suprise to Ohio Democrats; Ohio’s Attorney General is Jim Petro, who was Padgett’s running mate in this year’s gubernatorial election.

“The fix is in,” Ohio Democratic Party spokesman Brian Rothenberg told me, who added that the party’s lawyers would “probably take action” to halt Padgett’s bid.

But such action cannot take place until Padgett officially becomes the nominee. And that can’t happen until Ney officially withdraws. If Ney waits until August 19th, county party officials would be able to handpick his successor. As of yesterday, Ney still had yet to officially withdraw.

Via Chris Geidner.