On September 6, U.S. District Court Judge Noel Hillman issued a 34-page opinion in Lewis v Secretary of State Kim Guadagno, 11-cv-2381, upholding the New Jersey Constitutional provision that bars candidates from running for the State Senate unless they have lived in the state for the preceding four years.

The judge also ruled that state officials have not broken the Equal Protection Clause by invoking the state Constitutional provision against Lewis. The opinion says, “The Plaintiff is a man of great and inspiring achievement, justifiably held in high regard, and possessed of promise for the future. More importantly, he is the candidate of choice of his political party. And it is more than just a populist notion -indeed it is ingrained in our collective political DNA – to level the playing field, to welcome all comers, and to root for the underdog…our courts have been, and ought to be, more than a little skeptical of state machinations to preserve and perpetuate the status quo of entrenched powers and ever vigilant against discrimination in all its sinister forms…But…the citizens of the State of New Jersey have chosen and left undisturbed a universally applied and neutral prerequisite to hold the office of State Senator. The durational residency requirement applies to all.” The provision in the State Constitution is 167 years old.