Candidate Running For Congress In Four Different States
I suppose this is the political version of keeping your bases covered:
Allan Levene isn’t absolutely convinced of his chances in the GOP race for the congressional seat now held by U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey of Marietta.
So the Kennesaw resident has hit on what he thinks is a unique strategy to increase the odds that he’ll have a job in Washington come next year.
He’s going to run in three other congressional districts as well. In three other states: Michigan (14th CD), Minnesota (6th CD) and Hawaii (1st CD). The U.S. Constitution, he notes, only requires residency at the time of next year’s November election.
Levene used to live in metro Detroit. Work as an IT man has sometimes carried him to Minnesota.
“Of course, living in Hawaii wouldn’t be bad, but I’d rather stay in Georgia,” Levine, 64, said this morning. “But I’m a practical man. I don’t have time to do this two years at a time, since I plan to be dead in 10 years.”
A London native but naturalized U.S. citizen, Levene has chosen an American football analogy: “Going wide rather than going long.”
Levene would remain an extreme long-shot in all four races – his Georgia campaign treasury is relatively miniscule, and would be even smaller when divided by four. But a quadruple race would be one for the books.
Levene said he found his loophole during his constitutional studies. The Founding Fathers, he realized, didn’t know about jet travel. “People couldn’t conceive of people running in more than one geographic area,” he said.
There is apparently no legal barrier to doing this, and there’s generally no legal requirement that a candidate for Congress actually live in the District they are running for, so Levene isn’t doing anything improper here. I can’t imagine, though, that the voters in Geogia, Michigan, Minnesota, or Hawaii are going to appreciate this one.
Via United Liberty editor Jason Pye
You know what would cure this? Candidate ID laws.
‘…no legal requirement that a candidate for Congress actually live in the District they are running for,..”
So if he wins in more than one state does he get to choose which one he will inhabit?
Way to work the system! After all, its just a job to them – not like its an important duty that can affect millions of lives for decades to come. Nope, just a career that can make you filthy rich and (in)famous with a nice retirement package and great future options depending on who’s ass you choose to kiss. Get that paycheck!
There’s a part of me that wants to applaud people who find these loopholes and run with them. At least he’s honest about it….
@ernieyeball:
I guess that depends on what specific state law says on that subject. As the linked article notes, he maintains a form of home in each state by virtue of property he owns.
And from what I can tell, he’s not likely to win any of these races in any case.
@ernieyeball:
Also, he has until the time of the election in November 2014 (if he wins one of the primaries) to move to the state in question
Of course, being the GOP candidate in Hawaii isn’t really a winning proposition.