Strange things continue to happen in New York. First there is Congressman Vito Fossella, who was stopped in Virginia for running a red light while drunk. When the arresting officer asked where he was heading, Fossella answered he was going to visit his family. It turns out that Fossella has two families: one in Virginia and one back home in Staten Island. Despite this abundance of family values, the Republicans decided that he should not run for reelection.
Unfortunately, the Republicans couldn’t convince anyone to run for Fossella’s congressional seat. They finally settled on a wealthy businessman, Francis Powers, whose main advantage was that he could fund his own election campaign.
Now the strange twist. It turns out that Powers is actually Francis Powers Senior, and Francis Powers Junior has decided to run for the same seat against his father, but as a Libertarian. Or, as Junior puts it, “This is not about my dad, I’m running against the Republican candidate.”
Will voters get confused when they see a ballot containing F. Powers, F. Powers, and a (to-be-named) Democratic candidate? F. Powers Jr. responds “If people can’t tell the difference between the Republican Party and the Libertarian Party, maybe they shouldn’t be voting.”
http://www.electoral-vote.com/evp2008/Pres/Maps/Jun07.html
http://weblog.sinteur.com/2008/06/son-of-gop-nominee-throws-hat-into-ring-for-staten-islands-seat/
UPDATE: the Libertarian Party did not nominate Francis Powers, Jr., narrowly avoiding ballot confusion. But it will still be an interesting race.
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[…] To refresh your memory, Republican Congressman Vito Fossella was stopped in Virginia for running a red light while drunk, while on his way to visit his second family, complete with an out-of-wedlock daughter. Vito Finito, as the tabloids put it. Then the Republicans can’t find anyone to run for his seat, but after frantic searching they finally settle on Francis Powers, a wealthy businessman. This despite the vow of his own son (also named Francis Powers) to run against his father as a Libertarian. […]