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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The Hatch Act seems like a mess on the subject of independent candidates in partisan local elections. It's clear that feds in designated high-fed areas like Arlington can be "independent candidates" in local elections that become "partisan" for reasons beyond the candidate's control. But it's less clear what "independent candidate" means, or what activities by a candidate would transform an otherwise "independent" candidacy into a partisan one. There's authority that seeking a party's endorsement [i]could[/i] do that, but not that it necessarily would.

There's a big difference between a truly "independent candidate"--who touts their independence from either party, seeks endorsements from partisan and non-partisan groups alike, passively accepts contributions and volunteer assistance from a party without asking, doesn't employ party operatives in their campaign, and never holds themselves out as partisan--and a candidate who is "independent" in name only and campaigns like a party nominee would.

There's a lot of speculation about what the ethics authorities did or didn't tell Symone and vice versa. Much of that speculation is driven by conventional wisdom about the Hatch Act. Without getting into Symone's forthrightness or acceptance of responsibility, I think it's worth asking whether the conventional wisdom is correct.

Signed, NP who doesn't plan to vote for Symone regardless.[/quote]

If you participate in the ACDC caucus, you aren't independent. Winning the caucus endorsement means that you are on the ACDC (political party) sample ballot, printed using ACDC (political party) funds and handed out using ACDC (political party) volunteers. Your name may be on campaign signs with other Dems. You are not independent in any true sense. Its completely different from being endorsed by, say, the public employees union, which is not a political party.

And Symone is not actually running as an independent, let's be honest. She announced her candidacy at an ACDC meeting![/quote]

A candidate's "independence" is judged based on what [u]they[/u] do, not what a party does for them. The [i]Campbell [/i]case (27 F.3d 1560) illustrates that nicely. There, the court rejected the argument that a candidate for Alexandria city counsel was "independent" because he not only sought the Alexandria Democratic Party's endorsement, but also: 1) successfully urged the party to change its procedures to allow him to participate in the caucus, 2) actually participated in a caucus where an endorsee would be functionally indistinct from a nominee, 3) advertised the party's endorsement and support often, 4) ran his campaign from the Alexandria Democratic Party's headquarters, 5) used the party's phone bank and bulk mail permit, 6) pooled his resources with other Democratic nominees, and 7) distributed posters that did not identify him as independent. It was the candidate's extensive leveraging of party support that prompted an administrative law judge to conclude (and an appellate court to affirm) that he ran has campaign with the intent and effect of persuading voters that he'd follow the party's platform, and therefore wasn't "independent." The case could have come out much differently if he had secured the party's endorsement, but didn't advertise it and kept his campaign separate from party operations.

If OSC did tell Symone that seeking the ACDC endorsement would violate the Hatch Act, then her announcement at an ACDC meeting may have played a big role. It's possible that, in OSC's view, she had already engaged in so many other partisan activities that participating in the caucus would have made it impossible for her candidacy to be "independent." We don't know for sure, and I'd rather not guess.[/quote]

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