McKinney will not be on congressional ballot

Cynthia McKinney will not be on the ballot this fall in the DeKalb County-based congressional district she once represented.

McKinney had been trying to collect signatures to run as a Green Party candidate against U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson, a DeKalb County Democrat, in the 4th District, but a spokesman for the Secretary of State's office confirmed Friday that McKinney did not submit any signatures by the Aug. 7 deadline.

The missed deadline was first reported by Patch.com.

McKinney still could mount a write-in campaign but her name will not appear on the ballot. She would have had to get 18,859 petition signatures to make the ballot.

McKinney served in Congress as a Democrat for six terms. Johnson defeated her in a 2006 Democratic runoff after McKinney's well publicized run-in with a Capitol police officer. McKinney was an outspoken anti-war voice and once questioned whether the George W. Bush administration knew about the 9/11 attacks in advance.

After her loss McKinney moved to San Francisco and joined the Green Party, running for president on that ticket in 2008 and garnering less than 1 percent of the vote nationwide.

McKinney's congressional campaign account showed no contributions or spending through June aside from a personal loan of $900.

Johnson defeated two challengers in a July 31 Democratic primary. He will face Republican J. Chris Vaughn, a minister from Conyers, in November.