Thursday, 4:30 PM
Mihos submits 26,000 plus signatures to get on ballot
By Andrew Ryan, Globe Correspondent
Convenience store magnate and gubernatorial candidate Christy Mihos submitted more than 26,000 signatures to the Secretary of the Commonwealth this afternoon and secured his place on the November ballot as an independent.
“It’s a great day for us," said Mihos’ press secretary, Nicole L. Nionakis. "Voters in Massachusetts now have a choice.”
The Secretary of the Commonwealth’s office certified 18,193 of the signatures this afternoon, according to the Mihos campaign, eclipsing the 10,000 minimum needed to make the ballot.
Green Party candidate Grace Ross said that although her campaign volunteers have not officially handed in her signatures, she is more than confident that her name will make the ballot.
“We are well over 10,000,” Ross said this afternoon.
In heavily Democratic Massachusetts, Mihos’ could “splinter” the Republican vote, according Jeffrey Berry, a professor of Political Science at Tufts University.
“It’s clearly a threat to Kerry Healey’s chances,” said Berry, referring to the Republican lieutenant governor and GOP nominee. “When Mihos talks about policy he talks about taxes and tax relief, which is much more appealing to Republican than Democrats.”
That could hurt Healey in a state where only 13 percent of registered voters belong to the GOP.
“She can’t afford to have him steal even a small number of votes from the Republican side,” Berry said.
