The state with the earliest deadline for filing petitions to get on the 2008 ballot, should Mayor Bloomberg decide to run, is Texas.
The Lone Star State has a mid-May deadline for ballot-access petitions, with 43,991 signatures required to run as a third-party candidate, according to Richard Winger of Ballot Access News.
But Texas requires unaffiliated candidates to file about a week earlier – with 74,108 signatures, almost double the amount needed by third-party hopefuls.
“It’s utterly stupid,” said Winger.