Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Missed deadline costs Carl Horn a run at DA

Former federal magistrate Carl Horn III planned to run for Mecklenburg County district attorney next year to replace retiring Peter Gilchrist. He already had a campaign chairman and promises of fundraising help. There was only one problem.

The law required a candidate to be a member of the political party in which he's running for 90 days before becoming a candidate. He switched to Republican from Unaffiliated on Dec. 8, about two weeks past the deadline.

His only alternative would be to run as an independent. To do that he would need 4 percent of the county's registered voters to sign a petition, almost 24,000 people. He's not going to do it.

“It’s important that the DA’s office be run not only strategically and efficiently, but also without any political or ideological agenda," he says. "I was flattered to receive calls from friends in both parties who encouraged me to run. I understand the rationale behind the law, but am still disappointed that our plans had to be nipped in the bud.”

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great planning.

Anonymous said...

If you really missed a deadline to qualify for office, you have no business being the DA. Smells like the kind of expertise brought to Mecklenburg jurisprudence by Bill "Baby Huey" Belk.

Or, you missed it on purpose. So then you wouldn't be absent-minded and stupid. Just mendacious.

Dick Tomlinson said...

Carl Horn would have made an outstanding DA, just as he was exceptional as a Federal Magistrate Judge. Moreover, finding people of Carl's personal and professional integrity and experince, along with his extensive public service, is getting increasingly difficult to find. Carl not only understands the law, lectures and writes extensively to and for his professional peers, but is widely respected for understanding the human element in conflicts brought before him. Dick Tomlinson

Lillian said...

It can't really have success, I suppose like this.