TRENTON — State Senate hopeful Carl Lewis has one more chance to salvage his candidacy today. Lewis has a hearing in a federal appeals court in Philadelphia at 8:30am. The former Olympic track and field star hopes the three-judge panel will overturn last week’s ruling by a U.S. District Court Judge that upheld Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno’s decision to...
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TRENTON — State Senate hopeful Carl Lewis has one more chance to salvage his candidacy today.
Lewis has a hearing in a federal appeals court in Philadelphia at 8:30am. The former Olympic track and field star hopes the three-judge panel will overturn last week’s ruling by a U.S. District Court Judge that upheld Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno’s decision to kick him off the ballot.
The hearing is the final step in the seemingly endless legal drama that has dogged Lewis, a Democrat, since April, when he announced his intention to run against state Sen. Dawn Marie Addiego (R-Burlington) in South Jersey’s Republican-leaning 8th Legislative District.
Soon after he declared, Republicans filed a complaint that Lewis had not lived in New Jersey for the four years required for state Senate candidates. Although an administrative law judge first upheld that claim, Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno – in her dual role of secretary of state – overruled him and voided Lewis’candidacy, in part because he voted in California as recently as 2009. Since then, the case has been winding its way through federal court.
Lewis, who claims Gov. Chris Christie tried to talk him out of running before he announced his run, has accused Guadagno of playing politics by kicking him off the ballot.
Related coverage:
• Carl Lewis to appeal before federal judges to get back on N.J. state Senate ballot
• Federal judge upholds decision to remove Carl Lewis from ballot for state Senate
