Burlington County Republicans are challenging Olympic track star Carl Lewis’ eligibility to run for the New Jersey Senate, claiming he does not meet the state’s four-year residency requirement.
The complaint was filed Friday afternoon with the Office of the New Jersey Secretary of State on behalf of Burlington County Republican Chairman Bill Layton and Hainesport GOP Chairman Ted Costa.
It seeks to invalidate Lewis’ running in the 8th Legislative District Democratic primary in June because he lived in California and voted in that state the last four years.
Lewis was not available for comment Friday, but his attorney, William Tambussi, called the complaint a “political tactic” and said his client would fight the challenge in court if necessary.
New Jersey’s Constitution requires state Senate candidates to be 30 years old, a resident for four years, and a resident of his or her legislative district for one year.
Lewis, 49, grew up in Willingboro, attended college in Houston, and has lived in California. He purchased a condominium in Medford in 2005 but he registered to vote there Monday, the day he filed to run as a Democrat for the Senate seat.
The seat is held by Sen. Dawn Marie Addiego of Evesham. No other Democrats have filed to challenge Lewis for the nomination.
The Republicans claim Lewis’ voting record proves he was a resident of California for the last four years. Lewis voted as a Democrat in the California presidential primary election in February 2008, the California primary election in June 2008, the general election in November 2008, and the California special election in May 2009.
The complaint notes that California and New Jersey law require voters to be a resident in that state in order to vote there.
“Mr. Lewis has not been a resident of the state of New Jersey for the past four years,” the complaint says. “In fact, Mr. Lewis certified and confirmed through his actions that he was a resident of the state of California during that time. That Mr. Lewis voted in California during the last four years is indisputable evidence of this fact. Indeed, were it not, Mr. Lewis would be subject to penalties in California for voting when he is not a resident.”
The Republicans also cite Lewis’ personal website, which identifies his residences as being in Los Angeles and Houston, and his 2010 Texas vehicle registration, which said he lived in Houston.
The GOP argument relies on an interpretation of the Constitution that Senate candidates must be residents of New Jersey the “preceding” four years to be eligible to hold office.
Tambussi said he would challenge that interpretation.
“Under the GOP’s read, if someone left (New Jersey) to college for four years, they couldn’t run for state office,” he said. “That’s not what the Constitution intended.”
He said he would file a response to the GOP challenge Monday.
“Carl Lewis grew up here. It’s not like he moved here from Hawaii to run for office. It’s pretty straightforward,” Tambussi said.
Both lawyers said the case would likely be referred to an administrative judge to review and decide. Whatever decision the judge makes will likely be appealed to a higher court.
Mark Sheridan, a Florham Park attorney who filed the complaint, said that an appellate court already has upheld residency requirements, but that he was not aware of any court ruling specific to New Jersey’s four-year residency requirement for state Senate eligibility. Tambussi also said he was unaware of any case law specific to the requirement.
The GOP challenge comes just days after Lewis issued a news release stating he had invited Addiego to lunch to meet and discuss having a clean, issue-focused campaign.
“I look forward to meeting Sen. Addiego in an informal setting so we can get to know one another as our campaigns begin,” Lewis said in the release. “I want to shake her hand, look her in the eye, and ask her to join me in setting a tone of mutual respect that leads to the kind of campaign that voters of the 8th District deserve.”
Chris Russell, spokesman for Addiego’s campaign, said the senator declined the invitation, which he described as a political stunt.
“False start, Carl,” Russell said. “Judging by his grandstanding press release, it looks like it took Mr. Lewis less than 48 hours to read through the Camden County political machine’s playbook and become a full-fledged politician. Unfortunately for Mr. Lewis, voters aren’t this dumb. If he was sincere about meeting Dawn, rather than generating media attention for himself, he wouldn’t have issued this silly press release. Furthermore, if he wants to discuss issues with her, it might help if he actually took a stand on an issue first, instead of ducking reporters’ questions about anything substantive.”
Russell also said Lewis and the Democrats were flouting the state Constitution with his candidacy.
“I know Carl Lewis is fast, but he isn’t fast enough to be in two places at once,” Russell said. “The New Jersey Constitution requires that a candidate live in New Jersey for four years before being eligible to run for the Senate. The Camden County political machine’s apparent argument is that the Constitution doesn’t matter and that the rules shouldn’t apply to Carl Lewis. That’s all we need in New Jersey politics, someone else who doesn’t think they need to follow the same rules that the rest of us do.”
Lewis’ campaign spokesman, Michael Muller, did not immediately return calls for comment.
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