I know I'm fighting a long, uphill battle. While the Ohio Secretary of State's office does not keep sta tistics on the number of successful write-in campaigns, spokesman James Lee said it's fair to say successes are rare. A few have bucked the trend. Just last fall, write-in candidate Pat Stortz defeated four others listed on the ballot for a city commission seat in the small Kentucky community of Crestview. But these are anomalies.
Motivations vary among the handful of Tristate write-in candidates in contested races.
Several candidates had problems with local election boards in getting approval of their petitions to appear on the ballot. Others wanted to make sure voters had a choice. Some simply wanted to stir up the pot. I'm trying to produce a show. A Republican, Mr. Anderson said he joined the race because the four candidates, including Democratic incumbent Gov. Paul Patton, weren't addressing issues he considered vital, such as tax reform, education and pro-life interests.