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Steiner pins hopes on write-in candidacy

Posted: Jul 5th 2006 By: mikeiles

Who knew it would be so hard for an incumbent to win a race where he faces no opposition?

First, the former pro wrestler made the mistake of qualifying for office under his ring name. Then he tried to petition to get on the ballot as a third-party candidate, but he couldn't get the required number of signatures by the deadline.

So Robert L. Rechsteiner registered as a write-in candidate Thursday and he hopes enough people can spell his name ? or at least get close ? to get him re-elected to the Cherokee County school board in November.

If no one else registers as a write-in candidate by the Sept. 5 deadline, his own vote should be enough to put him in the seat now held by his alter ego, Rick Steiner.

Though he's certainly taken the path less traveled, Steiner's write-in candidacy is not all that unusual. Write-in candidates are more common in local races than statewide races, said Kara Sinkule, spokeswoman for the secretary of state. She said write-in candidates have won local elections in the past, even with opposition.

"A local write-in candidate has a better shot of getting the word out to the entire population," Sinkule said.

When voters go to the polls Nov. 2, there will be only a section for a write-in candidate in that school board race. When voters touch the screen, a keyboard will pop up and they can type in the candidate's name.

Sinkule also said that as long as election officials can recognize that a voter has voted for "Robert Rechsteiner," regardless of the spelling, the vote will count.

A professional wrestler who has used his ring name Rick Steiner for at least 20 years, he had to forfeit his Republican qualification in May for the Cherokee County Board of Education because county Supervisor of Elections Janet Munda couldn't find that name among registered voters. Because the qualifying period had closed, his only hope to get on the ballot by name was to register as a third-party candidate.

To do so, he needed to get thousands of people to back his petition.

"While we were able to gather close to 22% of the signatures needed, it just wasn't enough," Steiner said in a statement. He said he holds his real estate license in the name Rick Steiner and is known only as Rick Steiner "to everyone I know."

"I never knew my name would create such havoc," he said. Steiner is confident he will be elected. His campaign has commissioned T-shirts emblazoned with the correct spelling of his legal name as well as mailers and advertisements planned for dates closer to Election Day.

Though he may only need a single vote, he hopes he can do better than that.

"I know I can at least get my mom to go up and sign my name right."