WASHINGTON 鈥� She’ll “appeal” to voters in other ways.
Maryland Democrat Valerie Ervin will not take her bid to change the ballot in a jam-packed gubernatorial race to the Court of Appeals.
Ervin decided to run after Kevin Kamenetz 鈥� who was originally vying for the governor’s seat 鈥� died suddenly in early May.
A Maryland judge blocked her attempts to force a ballot change on June 4.
Elections officials have argued the ballot can鈥檛 be changed because there isn鈥檛 time enough before the June 26 primary. They planned instead to post notices about Kamenetz鈥檚 death and tell voters Ervin is running in his place.
Kamenetz, 60, had been a fixture in Maryland politics since the 1980s.
He had been a prosecutor, a member of the Baltimore County Council and Baltimore County executive. He died just hours after a candidates’ forum at Bowie State University.
Anne Arundel County Circuit Judge William Mulford, who smacked down Ervin’s efforts, told her he was sympathetic, but said that the State Board of Elections鈥� actions after Kamenetz鈥� death and their decision to not reprint the ballots were “reasonable.”
He said election officials were neither 鈥渁rbitrary鈥� nor 鈥渃apricious鈥� as Ervin鈥檚 attorney had alleged.
But still, he wished Ervin well as he made his ruling, saying, 鈥淕ood luck to you.鈥�
91欧美激情’s Kate Ryan contributed to this report.
