Candidates seeking Lantos' seat must file by Feb 25

By Caitlin Cassady

February 13, 2008

Candidates hoping to run in the April 8 special election to fill the vacant congressional seat left by the late Tom Lantos must file Declaration of Candidacy and Nomination papers by Feb. 25, according to an election calendar released this afternoon by the secretary of state's office.

A list of certified candidates for the election will then be sent to county officials by March 3.

Lantos died early Monday morning at the Bethesda Naval Medical Center in Maryland due to complications from cancer.

The 80-year-old congressman, who was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in late December, announced he would not seek re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives, but had committed to serving the rest of his 14th term through December, his spokeswoman Lynne Weil said.

Former state senator Jackie Speier announced her intention to run for the open congressional seat on Jan. 13 at Leo Ryan Park in Foster City. Before his death Lantos had endorsed her for his congressional seat.

Now Speier will be running in the April 8 special election, her spokesman said today.

"We thought the June primary was first step, but now with the recent news that date has been pushed up we will certainly be running in April," spokesman Alex Tourk said.

The winner of the April election will be filling out the remainder of Lantos' term, secretary of state spokeswoman Kate Folmar said. However, that person will not automatically hold the seat for the upcoming election as well. The winner of the special election will have to run again in the June 3 statewide primary if he or she wants to fill the position for the two-year congressional term beginning in 2009.

If for some reason no one candidate for the seat gets more than 50 percent of the vote in the April election, the top vote getters from each party will be put on the June ballot, Folmar said.

The winner of that contest will then fill out the remainder of the term.

Lantos, D-San Mateo/San Francisco, was the only Holocaust survivor to be elected to Congress and served as a senior member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. He was the founding co-chairman of the 24-year-old Congressional Human Rights Caucus, and was elected chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs in January 2007, according to Weil.

He leaves behind his wife, two daughters, 18 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

A public memorial service will be held Thursday for Lantos at Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., according to Weil.

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