Former Lowden adviser has Tea Party gripe, election official says complaint won’t stand

Dan Burdish, political director for the ill-fated U.S. Senate campaign of Republican Sue Lowden, filed a complaint with Nevada Secretary of State Ross Miller claiming Tea Party of Nevada candidate Scott Ashjian isn't qualified to be on the general election ballot.

In a letter sent Friday to Miller, Burdish says Ashjian's Tea Party of Nevada isn't qualified for the ballot because party officials didn't get enough signatures.

"It should be an up and up election," said Burdish, who added Lowden didn't know he intended to challenge the qualification of Ashjian's candidacy. "If the Tea Party is allowed to do this without complying with state statutes it is not an up and up election."

Lowden had been the leading Republican candidate to challenge Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev. in November but wound up losing to the insurgent campaign of fellow Republican Sharron Angle.

Matt Griffin, Deputy Secretary of State for Elections, says Burdish is mixing apples and oranges with his complaint.

Griffin said Ashjian met the 250-signature threshhold to qualify as an individual candidate and his Tea Party of Nevada filed bylaws and a certification that allows the organization to exist as a minor party.

The higher signature threshhold Burdish mentioned in his complaint letter -- 1 percent of the total number of Congressional voters in the previous election, in this case about 9,700 -- only applies if the Tea Party of Nevada wants to have ballot access to field an entire slate of candidates.

For example, if the party met the higher standard the party organizers could then put forward candidates for any state office. Without such access, each individual candidate has to go out and get 250 signatures to qualify to run for a specific post.

"He is kind of jumbling all the requirements altogether," Griffin said of the complaint. "Scott Ashjian has ballot access, but the Tea Party does not."

That doesn't mean Ashjian's worries are over. He's still facing a challenge from the Independent American Party that says he isn't qualified to run as a member of the Tea Party of Nevada because he was a registered Republican when he filed his qualification paperwork.

A judge already ruled that Ashjian could stay on the ballot but the IAP has said it will appeal to the state supreme court.

Tea Party activists have also complained about Ashjian's candidacy, saying the Tea Party is an informal movement and should be an official political party. Many Tea Party activists are backing the candidacy of Angle.