Politics
Carl Lewis kicked off New Jersey state Senate ballot
But they won’t have much time.
The legal deadline to begin sending out ballots to residents living overseas, including military personnel, is Friday. And ballots are to be sent to other voters within days.
In a statement, Lewis’ lawyer seemed resigned to the idea that the track star won’t be running for office this year.
“It is unfortunate that the voters of the Eighth Legislative District are being denied a meaningful choice in this election by today’s decision,” said William Tambussi. “The extreme measures taken by the Republican Party to keep Carl Lewis off the ballot truly do a disservice to the voters.”
The issue, which turned out to be more complex than it seemed, was whether Lewis satisfied a requirement that state senators live in the state four years before they take office.
Lewis, 50, grew up in Willingboro, N.J., went to college in Texas and settled in California.
In 1984, he was one of the big stars of the Olympic in Los Angeles, winning four gold medals in track and field. He would add five more over the next 12 years.
He bought homes in New Jersey in 2005 and 2007 and began working as a volunteer track coach at Willingboro High School. But he continued to pay taxes in California and voted there in 2009. He registered to vote in New Jersey only this year.
Secretary of State Kim Guadagno, a Republican who is also the lieutenant governor elected as Gov. Chris Christie’s running mate, removed Lewis from the ballot.
In its ruling Thursday, the court said that was the right decision.
Lewis and his supporters say it was a politically motivated move designed to keep the well-known Democrat from running against Republican incumbent Dawn Addiego in the 8th Legislative District, a reliably Republican area in the outer ring of New Jersey’s Philadelphia suburbs.
Lawyers for the state say they were just trying to enforce a residency requirement that’s been part of the state constitution since 1844.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.
