Ney’s Decision DeadlineHere’s a date to mark on your calendars: August 19th.
According to Roll Call (sub. req.), if Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH) withdrew before that date, there’d be a special primary to decide his replacement. But if Ney hung on, then “under Ohio law it would be more difficult to remove his name from the ballot.” And given the recent example of Tom DeLay down in Texas, that’s a chance Republicans won’t want to take.
Ney has said that even indictment won’t stop him from running. That’s easily enough said, but with Ney already polling behind pre-indictment….
Apparently GOPers have all but despaired of convincing Ney to take one for the team:
…while GOP strategists privately acknowledge their chances of holding the seat are greatly diminished by having Ney on the ballot, most have given up hope that he might be persuaded to step aside — even if he is indicted.“Nothing has changed and I don’t know that I expect it to unless something happens,” said one GOP strategist. “He seems pretty dug in.”
Will he or won’t he?
Update: TPMm Reader DG points out, rightly, that the poll showing Ney trailing was done by Ney’s challenger Zach Space’s campaign. And Ney’s campaign has released a poll today showing Ney leading.