Santorum likely to survive Indiana challenge

WISHTV.COM

Jim Shella

Updated: Feb 14, 2012 5:37 PM

Rick Santorum is now leading the battle for the GOP Presidential nomination according to a new nationwide poll and that means the Indiana primary could matter.  Santorum’s ballot status here is still in doubt, but experts say he is likely to survive multiple challenges.

Santorum is campaigning in Washington state but a national campaign spokesperson says he has plans to campaign in Indiana.  Says Hogan Gidley “We’re confident we’re going to end up on the ballot in Indiana.  We have people in place to make sure this process is fair and people will get the chance to vote for Rick.”

The problem is that the Santorum campaign failed to meet the ballot requirement, by eight signatures, and that sets up a decision by the state election commission.  What’s the liklihood that he will be on the Indiana ballot?  “I ‘d say 75, 80%,” says former commission chairman Tom Wheeler.

He also says that while current chairman, former state Representative Dan Dumezich, is a co-chair of the Indiana Romney campaign, that shouldn’t pose a problem.  “It’s not uncommon for them to have an involvement in the political process,” says Wheeler, “but it’s also not uncommon for commissioners to recuse themselves as well.”

2 Democrats and 2 Republicans will decide Santorum’s fate but it takes 3 votes to kick him off the ballot.  Democrats have little motivation to kick him off.  On Indiana Week in Review the state chairman predicted that Santorum will survive the challenges.  “The election commission historically sided with placing people on the ballot,” said Parker, “as opposed to keeping them off.”

The Santorum campaign spokesman says that Indiana and Santorum are, in his words, a good fit.  He said they expect to have a lot of campaign stops here.  The GOP nomination fight, meantime, is increasingly looking like a two man race between Santorum and Mitt Romney.

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