Great Day for Republicans In St. Charles County

Democrats seem to have a problem with judgment. We see it in our presidential election with the gaffs of Obama all the way down to our local elections.

Debbie Cook for example. She is not continuing her campaign because in her words “I can’t parent the way I want to and be in Jefferson City.” I believe it is admirable that she is thinking of her family and how much time she will be away but seriously she is just now coming to that realization? It would have been more prudent to think about these things before you put your name in for election in the first place. Did she not think her personal life our with the job responsibilities of the office you are attempting to seek out until it is to late to withdraw? Like many Democrat candidates this year just one more sign of "poor judgement"

Tim Swope is just another example of poor judgment. Here is what the article below calls the "brightest hopes for picking up a House seat" and didn't think that because he had been out of work since January and having to pay his bills might be a problem while running for office? I call this poor judgment to start a campaign with no way of sustaining your expenses.

Tim Swope and Debbie Cook have done more to hurt the Democrat Party than any republican candidate ever could. But then again, judgement and comittment have always been a problem with the Democrat Party in St. Charles County.

See full article below for context.

Democrats in bind over reluctant House candidates
By Mark Schlinkmann
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

Tim Swope and Debbie Cook, the Democratic nominees for two Missouri House seats in St. Charles County, no longer want to run in the Nov. 4 election.
But it’s too late to easily withdraw their names from the ballot and both say they can’t afford the cost involved if they were able to get a court order to do so. That could be $6,000 to $10,000 or more, says the County Election Authority.

So unless the Democratic Party or some other benefactor agrees to pay for reprinting and reprogramming the ballots, the two remain on the ballot - putting the party in an odd situation.

Swope and Cook each say they will do no campaigning. Swope goes as far as saying he’ll turn down the seat if he’s elected because of the time commitment he’d made to his new employer, a computer software company. “I made a pledge to this company I would not go to Jeff City,” he said. Cook says she probably wouldn't serve if elected.

Swope, who is widely known from his former stints as county sheriff and St. Charles police chief, was among the county Democrats’ brightest hopes for picking up a House seat.

He is the nominee to fill St. Charles' vacant 18th District seat formerly held by Republican Tom Dempsey, who gave it up last fall after being elected to the state Senate in a special election. The GOP nominee is Anne Zerr, a former aide to ex-County Executive Joe Ortwerth.

Swope said he got his new job after the standard Aug. 19 withdrawal deadline. He said he had been out of work since January and “I had to pay my bills.”

Cook is the Democratic nominee against Republican incumbent Cynthia Davis in O’Fallon’s 19th District.

Cook, who has five children and works as an X-ray technician, said she decided to drop her candidacy after realizing “I can’t parent the way I want to and be in Jefferson City.” She got into the House race after running unsuccessfully last April for the O'Fallon City Council.

She said she intended to withdraw before the deadline but didn’t get the paperwork in to the secretary of state’s office on time because that office initially sent her the
wrong form.

Cook then filed for a court order but withdrew it after finding out what the bill could be for preparing new ballots.

The secretary of state’s office says local Democratic county committee members from the two districts could pick new candidates if Swope and Cook did get their
names removed by court order.

The county Democratic chairman, St. Peters Alderman Tommy Roberts, said Monday he wanted to talk with the two now-reluctant candidates before commenting in detail.

County Elections Director Rich Chrismer said the cost of preparing new ballots depends on at what point the printing process is stopped in its tracks. The later in the process the court order is issued, he said, the more expensive it becomes. He said the deadline for getting on the ballot via court order is Sept. 23.