Mickey Mouse for Senate? Wacky write-in votes often a form of political protest VOTERS EXERCISE RIGHT TO BE FUNNY

By EDIE GROSS

Are the American people ready to support a Wookiee of color for elected office?

At least one Spotsylvania County voter is.

Chewbacca, Han Solo's shaggy brown sidekick in the "Star Wars" films, was nominated for the U.S. Senate as a write-in candidate on Nov. 7. He joins an illustrious cast of characters who showed up on ballots all over the region: Cookie Monster, Big Bird, Daffy Duck, SpongeBob SquarePants and Kermit the Frog among them.

None received a majority, though Mayor McCheese, formerly of McDonaldland, was written on two separate ballots for Spotsylvania School Board. The 310-calorie candidate lost handily to J. Gilbert "Gil" Seaux.

Elections supervisors said they're used to seeing "creative" entries on write-in ballots.

"There's always been Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck from way back," said Spotsylvania Voter Registrar Shirley Boggs. "Mickey Mouse is going to win one of these times."

The rodent, who wouldn't be the first to serve in public office, received one nomination each for four separate seats this year: Spotsylvania School Board, Stafford treasurer, U.S. Senate and U.S. House 7th District.

Plenty of voters fill in the names of cartoon characters, sports heroes and even their kids just in jest. But lots do it as a sign of protest, said Stephen Farnsworth, a political science professor at the University of Mary Washington.

Political mud-slinging and government corruption scandals have soured voters, some of whom see the write-in line as a chance to vote "none of the above," he said.

"You can understand why people would say, 'To hell with it. Let's put SpongeBob in office,'" said Farnsworth, who has spent much of this fall explaining the American political process to Canadians as a Fulbright Research Scholar at McGill University's Institute for the Study of Canada.

"There are plenty of people who go to the polls, hold their nose and vote for a candidate they don't really like. This takes it to a whole other level. These are people who can't even stand to hold their nose and vote for the major party candidate," Farnsworth said. "To the voters who wrote in Mickey Mouse, it'd be a waste of a vote to fill in one of the other guys."

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Here are some notable events in write-in history, courtesy of Wikipedia.org, a write-in style, online encyclopedia that allows anyone with Internet access to post entries. The accuracy of the site is sometimes suspect, but in the spirit of public participation, here goes:

In 1967, residents of Picoazà, Ecuador, elected a foot powder as mayor. During the election, the manufacturer of Pulvapies foot powder had advertised its product with the following slogan: "Vote for any candidate, but if you want well-being and hygiene, vote for Pulvapies." Apparently, a majority of the town's 4,000 residents took the slogan seriously, writing "Honorable Pulvapies" on their ballots.

The late Strom Thurmond was elected to the U.S. Senate in South Carolina as a Democratic write-in candidate in 1954. He later became a Republican.

Arkansas Democrat Dale Alford was elected as a write-in candidate to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1958. A member of the Little Rock School Board, Alford launched his write-in campaign a week before the election, challenging incumbent Brooks Hays, who appeared to support integrating Arkansas schools. Alford, supported by segregationists, beat Hays by about 1,200 votes, a 2 percent margin.

Republican Joe Skeen was elected as a write-in candidate to Congress in New Mexico in November 1980 after the incumbent Democrat, Harold Runnels, died in August of that year.

In 1930, Republican Charles F. Curry Jr. was elected to the U.S. House as a write-in from Sacramento, Calif. His father, Congressman Charles Curry Sr., was to appear on the ballot, but his name was removed after his untimely death and no candidate's name appeared on the ballot.

Democrat Charlotte Gentry Burks became the first write-in candidate to win a spot in the Tennessee State Senate in 1998, taking the seat formerly held by her husband, Tommy Burks, who had been assassinated during an election campaign by his Republican challenger Byron Looper. Burks continues to serve in the Senate. Looper is serving a life sentence.

Michael Sessions, an 18-year-old high school senior, won as a write-in candidate for mayor of Hillsdale, Mich., in November 2005. He was too young to qualify for the ballot in the spring. Sessions, who funded his write-in campaign with about $700 from his summer job, beat the 51-year-old incumbent by two votes. Sessions is now a freshman at Hillsdale College.

Washington D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams couldn't get on the Democratic primary ballot in 2002 after the firm he hired to collect signatures for his petition included too many suspect names on the list, including Tony Blair, Billy Joel and Robin Hood. Instead, he ran as a write-in candidate, winning the primary and then re-election.

In 1992, consumer advocate Ralph Nader ran a write-in campaign for president of the United States in the New Hampshire primary. Declaring himself the "none of the above candidate," Nader received 3,054 votes from Democrats and 3,258 votes from Republicans.

Date published: 11/18/2006

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