What a lousy way to end campaign

Jesse Rumson was not my favorite candidate.

I told him that the first time we met. Local Trump-leaning Republicans wanted to use Jesse’s Jan. 6, 2021 “sedition panda” fame in a County Commission District 5 race against Holly Davis, whom they loathe.
​
After 15 minutes of conversation, I quickly surmised Jesse hadn’t a clue what he was doing. Nothing since then has changed my mind.

---

But when I got the news Tuesday that Jesse was being removed from the ballot over a really, REALLY, dumb paperwork error, it just made me sick.

I had the same feeling a week ago when Tod Cloud learned a similar error kept him off the House District 23 ballot.

Let’s spend this Friday talking about it some.

I’ve been the main elections reporter around here for decades, which means I’ve gotten to know hundreds of candidates.

I’ve met strong candidates and weak candidates. Candidates with deep Citrus County roots and others transplanted from elsewhere. Some really knew their stuff. Some, um, did not.

They all share a common goal: Winning.

The thing is, none of them know how to do it. Of all the inexact sciences, politics is the absolute crapshoot. There is no consistent roadmap to success.

Candidates take on enormous responsibility. We all gripe for change, but how many people are willing to put their finances, lives, and reputations on the line in the hopes they come out on top with finicky voters?

I admire a candidate’s tenacity. It’s very difficult work. Most don’t pay for campaign advice, and there are a ton of details.

Candidates are in it for the message. They are eternal optimists. Candidates with no realistic shot of victory remain confident until the last vote is counted.

Tod Cloud ran for state rep in 2022 in what he thought was an open race. When Ralph Massullo ended up going for re-election, Tod stayed in and finished a distant second.

He was really looking forward to a head-to-head matchup with JJ Grow in the 2024 Republican primary and has been running hard for this seat.

Then, inexplicably, it was over.

Candidates submit six qualifying forms. None is rocket science, but each must be filled out correctly.

The candidate oath form requires candidates to acknowledge their political affiliation. It also requires candidates to state whether they owe outstanding campaign finance penalties.

So, first Tod: The form requires a notary signature. He didn’t get one. He also didn’t check with Tallahassee during Qualifying Week to make sure all the paperwork was proper. Bad as I feel for Tod it seems some ordinary follow-up could have avoided that disaster.

Jesse’s case is much weirder.

Jesse had the form properly filled out, including his signature. When he handed it in, the elections folks said the notary needed to witness his signature, so they gave him a blank form and asked him to fill it out again.

The second form was notarized, but he neglected to mark “no” he doesn’t have campaign finance fines. No one caught the error until this week, and Jesse, unfortunately, was bumped from the ballot.

Two thoughts:

— Man, what a stupid law that requires candidates to mark yes OR no on such an obscure question. Think about this. How often will a candidate have pending campaign finance fines? It’s gotta be rare, right? I can understand requiring a “yes” answer. But if the answer is “no," and a candidate like Jesse simply forgets to check “no,” he shouldn’t be penalized. 

Kicked off the ballot for lack of a check mark? Nothing right about that.

— I’m sure Jesse’s friends and supporters are not happy with Supervisor of Elections Maureen “Mo” Baird and her staff for not catching this error. That is understandable. I doubt it’ll happen again. 

But let me say this: I’ve known Citrus County election workers for three decades and no one wants to see candidates succeed more than those folks. They feel horrible and embarrassed about what happened.

(Some readers pointed out the karma of a man convicted of assaulting a Capitol police officer in the Jan. 6 riot being removed from the ballot due to a paperwork error.)

We’re headed into July. The races really pick up steam, starting with the Chronicle forum on Monday, July 8 at the Fairgrounds auditorium.

It’s a challenging road for a candidate. I’m truly disappointed that Jesse Rumson and Tod Cloud are not on the ballot.

I know they are too.

Join the discussion on our Facebook page.

Enjoying the blog? Please consider supporting it at Venmo, PayPal, or Patreon.