He may have been starry-eyed, but he wasn't a fool.

Carl Romanelli, a divorced father of two grown sons from Wilkes-Barre, knew that as the Green Party candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2006, he'd have a hard time beating the big boys in the race: Republican incumbent Rick Santorum and Democrat Bob Casey. But he hoped to focus on his issues: an end to the Iraq war, health insurance, the rights of women and gays.

He did not foresee that, first, he'd get knocked off the ballot and, three years later, both he and his lawyer would be facing a $80,407 bill for the expenses incurred by foes who challenged Romanelli's nominating petition.

An election expert says this is only the second time in U.S. history that a candidate has been assessed the cost of efforts to remove him from a ballot.

After lengthy appeals, Romanelli may have run out of options. The state Supreme Court refused on Oct. 17 to reopen the case and ordered him to pay immediately.

Romanelli, 50, who works in the office at a locomotive repair shop, said his experience should make anyone think twice about running for office.

He doesn't know how he'll pay, he said:

"I make about $40,000 a year. I don't own a home. I don't have stocks and bonds. I still owe money on my car."

The 2006 Senate race in Pennsylvania was one of the most closely watched in the country.

Santorum, seeking a third term, had a target on his back. In Casey, the Democrats had put up their top candidate. Two years earlier, winning a second term as state treasurer, Casey had gathered the most votes in Pennsylvania history - 3,353,489.

The major-party candidates needed only 2,000 voter signatures to get on the ballot. But a minor-party candidate, such as Romanelli, has to meet a much higher standard of electoral credibility.

The candidate has to obtain a number of signatures equal to 2 percent of the votes received by the most popular candidate in the last statewide election.

Ironically, that was Casey, in his treasurer's race. Because of the historic size of Casey's victory, Romanelli needed to obtain a record 60,070 signatures.

As he set out going door to door, the task seemed impossible. The Green Party had volunteers who could help, but not enough.

Other eyes, however, were on his effort. The political calculus was that if Romanelli could get on the ballot, he might grab some liberal votes from Casey. In a tight election, that might tip the result to Santorum.

So the Republicans helped Romanelli. Donors from around the country contributed funds to his effort. He was able to hire a company to help him gather signatures. In the end, by his count, he collected 99,802.

He figured that was far more than enough.

As the yards-tall petition landed with a thud at the Pennsylvania Department of State, the Democrats were planning their countermove.