Mother steps into House race after daughter disqualified

12/21/2005

Kay Ek only allowed as write-in candidate

BY MARTIGA LOHN
Associated Press

The mother of a disqualified state House candidate wants to take her daughter’s place in a special election in the St. Cloud area, but the attorney general’s office said Tuesday her only option is to run as a write-in candidate.

Kay Ek, 71, was gearing up her campaign on Tuesday after the state Supreme Court on Monday ordered her daughter Sue removed from the ballot, determining she hadn’t established official residency in the district. The special election will be held next Tuesday.

“This election should be about the voters having a choice. … This is Stearns County, Sherburne County, not the Soviet Union,” state GOP Chairman Ron Carey told reporters after he attempted to file papers for Kay Ek’s candidacy.

But Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer couldn’t accept the filing. An opinion she requested from Attorney General Mike Hatch’s office Tuesday said state law only allows a replacement if the original candidate dies or withdraws from the race — not if removed by court order.

“Because removal of the name of Susanne Ek did not arise out of death, catastrophic illness or withdrawal of candidacy, there is no procedure set forth in Minnesota law for replacing Ms. Ek on the ballot,” Chief Deputy Kristine Eiden wrote in a letter to Kiffmeyer.

The court’s decision leaves just one candidate on the ballot — Stearns County Commissioner Larry Haws, the DFL’s endorsed candidate. The election was prompted by the resignation of DFL Rep. Joe Opatz.

Kiffmeyer told county elections officials to start printing ballots without a GOP candidate.

Meanwhile, the state Republican Party strongly condemned the opinion from Hatch’s office. In an e-mailed statement, Carey said the GOP will back Kay Ek’s write-in campaign.

“Mike Hatch has attempted to deny the voters of House District 15B a choice,” the statement said.

Democrats won the court challenge on the strength of an affidavit the younger Ek signed stating she lived in a St. Paul house owned by her parents.

Haws, 65, said he’s trying to stay out of the Ek flap.

“All I was trying to do was run for office to see if I could possibly do something for my community,” he said. “I wasn’t really trying to get involved in a Texas tag-team cage match.”

Haws, who’s in his third term on the county board, was a longtime director of St. Cloud’s parks and recreation department and also worked as a teacher and a coach.