U.S. Senate Race Could Include Third Candidate

Jon Barrie

From ballot-access.org - Jon Barrie is likely to qualify for the November 2012 ballot for U.S. Senate candidate in New Mexico. If he does so, he will be the first non-Democrat, non-Republican candidate for U.S. Senate to appear on a New Mexico ballot since 1996, when a Green and a Libertarian each qualified. Independent candidates in New Mexico face a severe petition burden, 3% of the last gubernatorial vote. Therefore, Barrie created the Independent American Party of New Mexico, and submitted 5,900 signatures by the April 2012 deadline. That was almost twice as many signatures as were needed. But New Mexico forces qualified minor parties to submit separate petitions for each of their nominees. So he must also submit a petition of 6,018 valid signatures, by late June, to qualify for the ballot. The two petitions combined, requiring a total of 9,027 signatures, still total fewer signatures than the statewide independent petition, which requires 18,053 valid signatures. Barrie’s campaign web page is jonbarrieforsenate.com. Barrie is not opposed to having his party nominate like-minded candidates for other partisan office this year. 

U.S. Senate Race Could Include Third Candidate