I'm with Dean

By Michael J.W. Stickings

From the St. Petersburg Times:

Republican Vern Buchanan might be the official winner in a messy Sarasota-area congressional race, but Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean says the Democratic-controlled Congress should not seat Buchanan without another election.

"Absolutely not," Dean said... "You cannot seat someone if you don't have an election that's valid.

"This election is not valid. There are 18,000 people who may have voted, and we don't know what happened to their votes," Dean said.

Democrat Christine Jennings has asked for a revote, but "a little-known provision in the U.S. Constitution gives the House the final decision on who sits in its chamber". At the very least, Congress should investigate this matter. Short of calling Jennings the winner, which would be politically risky for Democrats, it should demand a revote. It would be the only way to ensure the representational legitimacy of Florida's 13th congressional district.

For more on this controversy, see my post "Stealing Sarasota" here.