During the two weeks, Republicans have filed lawsuits to disqualify various Democratic nominees in Alabama, California and Ohio. Since the ballots have already been printed, and since these lawsuits could have been filed months ago, it is unlikely that courts will take them seriously. In Alabama, the Republican nominee for Attorney General filed a lawsuit to block counting any votes for four particular Democratic State Senators who failed to file a particular campaign finance report months ago. In California, some Republicans filed a lawsuit to block counting any votes for the Democratic nominee for Attorney General, on the grounds that during part of the past five years, he was only an inactive member of the Bar. And in Ohio, some Republicans filed a lawsuit to disqualify the Democratic nominee for Governor on the grounds that he doesn’t actually live at the address where he is registered to vote.
In California, a lower state court ruled that the case should not be expedited, so it won’t be heard until after the election. In Ohio, the state court of appeals rejected the lawsuit. The Alabama lawsuit has a hearing on October 31.
I heard Maryland Democratic Attorney General candidate Doug Gansler is also being challenged on the rule that he must have been a practicing attorney in Maryland for ten years. Democratic primary candidate Tom Perez was disqualified on August 29, just a few weeks before the primary, on the same grounds. I’m sure there’s more to this story.
Absolutely more to these stories….Republicans are like school kids who call wimpy fouls in basketball. “Ooh, he touched my shirt sleeve. Shooting foul, two free throws.”
HOWEVER, the lesson to be learned is that the nominees for election need to make sure they are eligible and not remotely ‘challengable’ in order to stop this type of horrid politics.