FL-16: GOP Rep. Foley Considers Resigns in Face of Scandal
by Jonathan Singer, Fri Sep 29, 2006 at 11:10:40 AM EDT
Update 2 (Jonathan): Netroots legal expert Adam B explains in the comments,
My first take? Under Section 100.111(4)(a) of the Florida election code, Foley can be replaced as the nominee, but his name remains on the physical ballot.Update 3 (Chris): Tim Mahoney has $343K cash as of 8/16. The district has a partisan voting index of +2.4 Republican. Even as an open seat, this district now favors Mahoney. If Adam B is right, Foley can't be removed fromt he ballot, which would end the race today.And, obvs, any new nominee would have to fundraise from scratch.
Update 4: In the comments, Jonathan seems to have it now:No, if I'm reading it correctly, the ballot remains unchanged (i.e. Foley v. Mahoney) but all Foley votes go to the annointed GOP replacement. If this is the case, it would be extremely difficult to get a majority to vote for Foley, even if the votes actually were goin got someone else. Adam B concurs. This seat is now "lean Dem."
Original post:
Breaking news from the AP's David Espo:
Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., is considering resigning from the House in the wake of questions about e-mails he wrote to a former Capitol page, congressional officials said Friday.These officials said a decision appeared imminent.
The Los Angeles Times' Noam N. Levey has more on the back story.
Six-term Rep. Mark Foley, a member of the powerful Ways and Means Committee and chairman of the House Entertainment Industry Task Force, is being made to explain a series of e-mails he sent in 2005 in which he asked the page how old he was and requested a photo.
The e-mails, copies of which were obtained by The Times, indicate that the boy, 16, then complained to another congressional staff member, noting: "Maybe it is just me being paranoid, but seriously. This freaked me out."
Florida's 16th congressional district, which Foley currently represents, is potentially competitive, with George W. Bush having won 55 percent of the district's vote in 2004 and just 52 percent in 2000. The Democratic candidate in the district, Tim Mahoney, is fairly well funded, with almost $350,000 in the bank as of the middle of August. So if Foley does resign and can be replaced on the ballot (could someone with election law experience dig into Florida's statute?), this race will definitely become one that the Democrats should watch in the next few weeks -- and perhaps even win come November 7.
Tags: FL-16, Florida, House 2006, Mark Foley, Tim Mahoney (all tags)
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