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Tuesday, August 20, 2024

Running for Two Offices At the Same Time

Some states have statutes that say a person cannot run for two offices in the same election. This makes sense with respect to state or local offices. But what if someone wants to run on the national ticket and for another office in the same election? Can a state bar that?

This issue comes up now and then. LBJ got Texas law changed for the 1960 election so that he could run for Vice President and reelection to the Senate. The same law allowed Lloyd Bentsen to do the same in 1988. Delaware law allowed Joe Biden to run for Vice President and the Senate in 2008.

Suppose, though, that a state did not let someone run for two national offices simultaneously. Would that be constitutional under Thornton? Probably not. The state could be seen as adding a qualification for national offices that is not in the Constitution. 

Maybe this is different if the person is running for Governor and, say, Vice President. A state can impose additional qualifications on candidates for state office. I'm not sure that the Constitution requires the freedom to double-dip for national and state office--maybe you just have to choose not to run for state reelection. 

Posted by Gerard Magliocca on August 20, 2024 at 09:41 AM | Permalink

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