Posted on 07/21/2010 5:35:02 PM PDT by ruination
Madison — State elections officials narrowly rejected a Milwaukee Assembly candidate's attempt to run with the slogan "NOT the 'whiteman's bitch' " under her name on the ballot.
Ieshuh Griffin, a Milwaukee independent running to replace retiring Rep. Annette "Polly" Williams (D-Milwaukee), said in response she would sue the Government Accountability Board for infringing on her freedom of speech.
"I'm not making a derogatory statement toward an ethnic group. I'm stating what I'm not," Griffin told board members. "It's my constitutional right to freedom of speech."
In other action, the state elections agency Wednesday knocked three state Assembly candidates and one congressional candidate off this fall's ballot but kept U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Madison) on it.
Unlike candidates from the established Democratic and Republican parties, independents are allowed a five-word statement of purpose on the ballot to explain to voters what their candidacy is about.
Shane Falk, a staff attorney for the Accountability Board, said that the board had the ability to restrict obscene or derogatory candidate statements from the ballot.
The board staff ruled that the statement should not be allowed. With one member absent, the board voted 3-2 in favor of reversing that ruling and allowing the wording. Under board rules, however, four votes are needed to overturn a staff decision.
As a result, Griffin will be on the ballot with "independent" by her name and nothing else.
Board member Thomas Barland, who voted to allow Griffin to make the statement, said he thought it was not obscene and "not racial." But Roxanne Dunlap of Sussex, a citizen attending the meeting, told the board that she found the statement offensive and believed that a white person making the opposite statement - "not the black man's bitch" - would be sharply criticized.
Griffin, who describes herself as a "30-ish" community activist, said she had attempted unsuccessfully in the past to run for a position as a Milwaukee County Circuit Court judge. She said she will appeal the board's decision in federal court.
The board found that Republican Paris Procopis, who was attempting to challenge Rep. David Cullen (D-Milwaukee), came up eight signatures short of the 200 needed to gain access to the ballot.
That leaves Cullen without an opponent from a major party, though he will face a challenge by Constitution Party candidate Lisa Becker.
The board also knocked Matt Bitz of Rice Lake off the ballot because he has not lived in Wisconsin long enough, leaving just one Democrat in the race to replace retiring Rep. Mary Hubler (D-Rice Lake). Four Republicans will appear on the Sept. 14 primary ballot, and the winner will face Democrat Steve Perala of Barron on Nov. 2.
The state constitution says members of the Legislature must have lived in Wisconsin for at least a year, and the board determined that provision meant the year prior to taking office. Bitz, who was raised in Rice Lake, moved back there in May, after living in New York City in recent years.
The board knocked Assembly candidate Andrew Wiesniewski off the ballot because he failed to collect enough signatures. Wiesniewski sought to run as a Republican to challenge Rep. Bob Ziegelbauer of Manitowoc, who recently switched his parties from Democrat to independent and faces a Democratic challenger, Kerry Trasik.
The board also dismissed a ballot challenge against Baldwin brought by the Young Republicans of Dane County saying she should be disqualified for running for reelection because she had listed her campaign office rather than her home address on her nomination papers.
The board said Baldwin could continue to list her office address because, as an openly lesbian member of Congress, she said she had received threats.
Republicans Chad Lee of Mount Horeb and Peter Theron of Madison are running against Baldwin.
An independent running against U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Janesville) was also removed from the ballot.
The board found independent Bill Tucker of New Berlin had just 977 valid signatures, 23 short of the 1,000 needed.
Democrat John Heckenlively of Racine withstood a challenge to his signatures and will remain on the ballot for that race. Libertarian Joseph Kexel of Kenosha is also running.
I used to very colorblind before Obama
He is such an asshole by setting back race relations 50 years
>> a “30-ish” community activist
>> Just give her 15 years and she’ll be perfectly qualified to serve as POTUS.
She’ll have to work real hard and get promoted to “community organizer” first.
State elections officials narrowly rejected a Milwaukee Assembly candidate's attempt to run with the slogan "NOT the 'whiteman's bitch' " under her name on the ballot.
Anyone else see anything nutty about this rejection?
On the ballot???
There shouldn’t be anything on the ballot except name and party affiliation. That’s the way it is in Texas.
Carole Keeton Rilander Strayhorn McClellan wanted to have “One tough grandma” as her nickname on the Texas ballot and the election commission threw it out.
If this candidate wanted to legally change her name to Not Da Whiteman’s Bitch Griffin, that’s another thing. She can do that if’n she wants to pay to have that her legal name.
Gosh I hope she hangs around, after Blago it’s going to be hard to find quality political buffonery like this.
On the ballot???
There shouldn’t be anything on the ballot except name and party affiliation. That’s the way it is in Texas.
Carole Keeton Rilander Strayhorn McClellan wanted to have “One tough grandma” as her nickname on the Texas ballot and the election commission threw it out.
If this candidate wanted to legally change her name to Not Da Whiteman’s Bitch Griffin, that’s another thing. She can do that if’n she wants to pay to have that her legal name.
Yeah she is about as independant as any democrat running is.
Wonder what her platform is—Maybe she can get her own reality talk show “Not The Whitemans Bitch A day in the life of an Independant Post racial racist”
Or the Supreme Court
These people are sick.
Dang! I really thought this was satire until I saw the photo and caption you posted. Lordy!
She be sassy!
Are there any sane people in Wisconsin? (Besides you, of course.)
Too bad, they should have left that phrase on the description, it would have pointed out exactly how racist she is and everyone would know exactly where she stands. Truth on the ballot for once.
I get riled up about the whole “If you don’t agree with the government you are a racist.” mantra today. And sometimes I look at blacks and wonder if the drink the koolaid. But time and again I find that when you talk to blacks (I refuse to call them African-American like I refuse to call myself French-Irish-American) nothing has changed since 1/20/2009. We are all Americans and people are the same wherever you go. Every human essentially wants the same things and if you are open, yet guarded and equal in your expectations of others, you will find we can all get be friends.
That said, black popular culture is a retrograde force against progress. The bright see it as music industry bs. The not so bright see it as gospel.
priceless!
You are not alone.
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