At Friday's impeachment hearing, Rep. Jerrold Nadler took impeachment a lot more seriously than he has until now. And there's a good reason - he escaped a primary challenge by the skin of his teeth.
Because of New York's strict ballot access laws, Nadler's pro-impeachment constituents had to organize a massive petition-gathering effort. Unfortunately candidate Adam Sullivan was tripped up by those strict laws, but Nadler seems to have gotten the message!
Sullivan Ends Primary Bid Against Nadler, Vows to Fight on Over Impeachment
Adam Sullivan announced Tuesday that he will no longer actively seek to unseat Congressman Jerrold Nadler (NY-8) in the September Democratic primary, but he will continue his fight to persuade Nadler and the Congress to initiate impeachment hearings against the Bush Administration.
In a press conference held outside the U.S. Post Office in Manhattan, Sullivan explained that he did not mention to his campaign staff that he had changed his enrollment from unaffiliated to Democrat at the start of the campaign, incorrectly assuming that his change of enrollment would be current at the time his petitions were filed. Members of his campaign assumed that he was a properly enrolled Democrat. According to New York state election law, Sullivan would have had to have changed his enrollment by October 12, 2007 to run in this year’s primary. “I regret if I have let down my supporters but given the rules I cannot in good faith continue this campaign through to the primary,” Sullivan said.
At the same time, Sullivan vowed to fight on over the issue that prompted him to run—impeachment. Of Nadler, he said, “His outright contempt for the process of impeachment makes him unfit to serve as Chairman of the [House Judiciary Committee] Subcommittee on the Constitution. His abandonment of the Constitution in its hour of greatest need—when he has sworn an Oath of Office eight times to protect and defend it, when he could use his Chairmanship to draw his district’s and perhaps the nation’s attention to impeachment proceedings . . . makes Representative Nadler complicit in our nation’s current suffering and the assaults on our freedoms.”
As for next steps, Sullivan stated “I will continue to seek other avenues, other ways to press my congressman on this issue. I will continue to support those in government who are truly progressive, who are committed to preserving the living Constitution, and who truly represent their constituents. With this in mind, I and others are making arrangements to travel to the nation’s capital on Friday, where we will assemble to show our support for Congressman Kucinich as he and others testify before the full House Judiciary Committee on the matter of the illegal war in Iraq and other related abuses of Executive Power.”
Read Adam Sullivan's July 22 Statement to the Press
Read a Chronology of Nadler's Constituents Urging Him to Initiate Impeachment Hearings
Congratulations to everyone who helped Adam Sullivan and keep up the great work!
