From the Salt Lake Tribune…
As Charles Kimball ran down the hallway of the state Capitol, only one thing went through his mind.
“I wasn’t going to make it,” said Kimball, who had been knocking on doors and gathering signatures for three weeks to get his name on the ballot as an independent candidate for Congress in the 2nd District.
There was trouble getting the signatures he needed certified as valid by the county clerk. First half of the 458 got thrown out. He went back out and pounded pavement and rounded up a couple hundred more. But another chunk was denied leaving him 16 short.
He scrambled to collect the last handful, gathering the final one from someone inside the county clerk’s office before dashing up to the Capitol to file for office.
The disappointment and disbelief was apparent on his face when he got there to find the door closed and locked.
But Mark Thomas, the administrator of the Lieutenant Governor’s Office, decided that since Kimball had been in the Capitol before 5 p.m., and the office is required to interpret the law liberally, Kimball was allowed to file.
“I absolutely didn’t think we could do it,” Kimball said. “It’s a beautiful thing, and I think running for political office should be hard, but it should be fair.”
Kimball is one of scores of candidates who have filed to run for office across the state, from president of theUnited Statesto state school board.
Click here to read the rest of the story by Salt Lake Tribune reporter Robert Gehrke
