campaign 2016 is nearly over, to the relief of many americans exhausted by the contentious, crazy and very consequential race between hillary clinton and donald j. trump . but the year of outlandish politics is not limited to the top of the ticket. consider these contentious, crazy and somewhat less consequential races. a tale of two donalds, neither on the ballot the candidate is a self-funding billionaire and resort owner who vows to shake up the political establishment. he is accused of not paying taxes, and is not one to mince words. when his opponent ran an ad he did not like, he had this to say: <u+201c>that<u+2019>s complete dog snot!<u+201d> no, it is not mr. trump. the candidate is jim justice, a mining company executive and owner of the greenbrier resort, now running as a democrat for governor. and he is drawing unfavorable comparisons to a second donald: donald blankenship, his fellow west virginia coal baron. like mr. blankenship, convicted this year of violating mine safety standards, mr. justice has also been accused of shoddy mine management. an investigative report by national public radio described him as <u+201c>the nation<u+2019>s top mine safety delinquent,<u+201d> and also found his companies owed $15 million in delinquent taxes and mine safety penalties <u+2014> allegations a spokesman for mr. justice dismissed as the product of <u+201c>the political silly season.<u+201d> despite all of this, the charleston gazette endorsed him over bill cole, the republican candidate and the president of the state senate. but it was hardly a ringing endorsement. it called mr. justice <u+201c>the best of a questionable lot.<u+201d> do you like your tea (party) organic? when is a tea party candidate not a republican? when he runs as a democrat. pennsylvania<u+2019>s ninth congressional district, in the central and southwestern part of the state, has long been a safe republican seat. bud shuster held it from 1973 to 2001; his son, bill, has held the seat since then. that is more than four decades of single-family republican control. some members of the party <u+2014> including art halvorson, a retired coast guard captain who calls himself a <u+201c>conservative christian, tea party-backed republican<u+201d> <u+2014> are unhappy about this. mr. halvorson lost to mr. shuster in a primary, but 1,069 ticked-off voters wrote his name in on the democratic side. so the tea party republican is the democratic nominee. <u+201c>i call it organic because i didn<u+2019>t even ask for it,<u+201d> mr. halvorson said , after the primary<u+2019>s surprise. voters are confused. <u+201c>some of halvorson<u+2019>s own voters may abandon him, because they can<u+2019>t stomach voting for a democrat,<u+201d> said david wasserman, who tracks house races for the nonpartisan cook political report. <u+201c>but he<u+2019>ll win some democrats, who don<u+2019>t know he<u+2019>s a tea party candidate.<u+201d> nine political lives, and counting a defense lawyer, joseph d. morrissey, 59, lost his law license for most of the 2000s after a series of reprimands and suspensions over ethics and conduct issues. and in 2014, mr. morrissey was sentenced to jail time <u+2014> he spent nights there for three months <u+2014> after having a sexual relationship with a teenager employed in his law office. the woman, now 20, became his wife. mr. morrissey, a former virginia state lawmaker, is running for mayor of richmond. he has been able to draw from a strong base of support among black and working-class voters, driven by his charisma and familiarity, and is a top contender in a crowded field. <u+201c>you start to say, my gosh, how does this guy keep coming out of the ashes?<u+201d> said dan palazzolo, a professor of political science at the university of richmond. but accusations have piled up. late last month, the richmond times-dispatch reported that mr. morrissey was accused of exposing himself to a client of his law firm in february. (mr. morrissey said they exchanged <u+201c>flirtatious text messages<u+201d> but denied further impropriety.) and democratic officials filed complaints against him over sample ballots mailed to voters by his campaign that seemed, erroneously, to suggest he is their preferred candidate. but richmond<u+2019>s odd election rules could favor a candidate with localized support, which mr. morrissey has. a candidate must win five of the city<u+2019>s nine districts to declare victory on election day. if that does not happen, there is a runoff. <u+201c>it<u+2019>s astounding,<u+201d> mr. palazzolo said. <u+201c>he could be our mayor.<u+201d> 3.6 million youtube views <u+2014> but how many votes? the wife of a candidate for county commissioner in travis county, tex., looked at the camera dryly as her husband nattered incessantly about details of county policy. <u+201c>please re-elect gerald<u+201d> to get him out of the house, pleaded charlyn daugherty. <u+201c>please.<u+201d> it was a wink at the wonkiest kind of public service, and the video garnered millions of views on youtube and facebook, marking a surreal turn for an obscure local race. it was a strategic gambit for a down-ballot republican in unfriendly territory, since travis county, which contains austin, is reliably democratic. before the ad, <u+201c>even people who vote for him couldn<u+2019>t point him out of a crowd,<u+201d> said brandon rottinghaus, a professor of political science at the university of houston. mr. rottinghaus said early voting in travis county has already smashed its record from 2012. the question now is whether democratic voters will cross party lines for mr. daugherty. but if he loses, he can still talk politics with (or at) his wife. <u+201c>you know,<u+201d> he says in the ad, as she rolls her eyes, <u+201c>i think i like helping around the house here.<u+201d> the millionaire and the ex-beauty queen after a wealthy venture capitalist moved to indiana and immediately began running for congress, the big question echoed from the indianapolis star newspaper , like a rhyming couplet from dr. seuss: <u+201c>and, by the way, who is this new hoosier who calls himself trey?<u+201d> the new hoosier is joseph albert <u+201c>trey<u+201d> hollingsworth iii, 33, who grew up in tennessee and is worth at least $58 million, according to the newspaper. last year, he moved to jeffersonville, ind., and began lending himself nearly $2 million to run for the open seat in the reliably republican ninth district. mr. hollingsworth prevailed over a crowded field of primary opponents and is now up to $2.77 million in total loans. he faces shelli yoder, a former miss indiana and current council member in monroe county, ind., for the general election. the partisan demographics may help mr. hollingsworth, but ms. yoder has made it a close race by playing up the carpetbagger theme. <u+201c>it<u+2019>s a hoosier district,<u+201d> reads ms. yoder<u+2019>s website, <u+201c>and it can<u+2019>t be bought.<u+201d> a gloves-off race it was a normal beast fest in bladenboro, n.c.: the car show, the craft vendors, the howl-o-ween dog costume contest. but, the festival, as the local paper put it , <u+201c>brought out the beast in two attendees.<u+201d> the attendees in question? the democrat, tim benton, and the republican, brenden jones, running for the state house<u+2019>s 46th district, whose encounter ended in claims of fisticuffs. <u+201c>he sucker-punched me in the face,<u+201d> mr. jones told wlox . mr. jones, who believes his opponent was angry about an advertisement comparing him to mrs. clinton, filed a criminal summons against mr. benton. mr. benton said he was falsely accused, and accused mr. jones in turn: <u+201c>he assaulted me, and i defended myself.<u+201d> no matter who wins their race, the two candidates could meet again <u+2014> in court. find out what you need to know about the 2016 presidential race today, and get politics news updates via facebook , twitter and the first draft newsletter . a version of this article appears in print on november 7, 2016, on page a16 of the new york edition with the headline: the drama is not only at the top of the ballot. order reprints | today's paper | subscribe
the drama down the ballot: 2016<u+2019>s other wild races
jess bidgood sheryl gay stolberg