Add the Connecticut for Lieberman party as one of the losers in last week's election: the party's candidate for U.S, Senate, John Mertens, apparently failed to get at least 1 percent of the vote, which would mean the loss of its guaranteed ballot line for the 2012 Senate election.
The party was created in July, 2006, as a backup plan in case Joe Lieberman lost the Democratic nomination to Ned Lamont (which he did, by the way.) But after Lieberman won re-election as an independent, his fiercest critics took control of the party that bears his name.
Mertens, a Trinity College professor, ran on the CFL line but, according to unofficial results from the Secretary of the State's office, failed to reach the 1 percent threshold in his loss to Democrat Richard Blumenthal.
"We cannot make a final determination on this until the results of the election are certified,'' Av Harris, spokesman for the Secretary of the State's office, said via email. "However, from the official returns we have seen and posted publicly thus far, it does appear that...Mertens did not receive the required 1% of the votes in order for the party to retain minor party status for the U.S. Senate Seat.''
Harris said he wants to stress "that this will not become final until the results of the election are certified by the Secretary of the State's office on November 24, 2010."
Mertens, who reflects on his run on is blog, noted that failing to garner the 1 percent means anyone seeking to restore CFL as a line on the 2012 ballot would have to collect 7,500 valid signatures. "We'll see what Mr. Lieberman's plans are by then,'' Mertens added.
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