Leonard Richards, 75, a man who committed two murders for which he is serving life in prison for is running for the US Senate in Minnesota as a Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party member.
He is allowed to run for federal office because surprisingly there is no law against it. Even if he wins, he cannot serve. He has previously run for a House seat, garnering over 14,000 votes. He is in prison for murdering his half-sister, may Wilson and his lawyer 5 years later. It would be funny if he did win, knocking Amy Klobuchar out of office. Then if Tim Pawlenty wins the governorship, he would get to appoint a temporary Senator who would serve until a special election could be held.
Many people are against him running even though he only killed half as many that died in Benghazi. But, seriously, someone needs to close that loophole because this is total nonsense.
His candidacy, while legal, has angered Stratton’s sister, who told the Star Tribune of Minneapolis that she hopes voters take the time to learn about Richards’ crimes before they cast a vote.
“I know he won’t win against Amy Klobuchar, but even one vote for this murderer is too many,” she told the newspaper.
“I know he won’t win against Amy Klobuchar, but even one vote for this murderer is too many.”
She added that she hopes the state’s laws can be changed to prevent felons from seeking federal office.
But Bert Black, a legal adviser for the Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office, said in an email to the Associated Press that courts have ruled that felons – even those currently incarcerated – cannot be prohibited from filing an affidavit of candidacy.
Richards has taken advantage of the loophole in the past.
In 1992 he ran in the Democratic primary for a congressional seat and earned more than 14,500 votes. He ran again in 1994, winning 4,000 votes.
Because Richards is behind bars without parole, there’s no chance that he would be able to serve if elected, the Star Tribune reported.