Judge rules Connie Johnson tossed from the ballot
State Rep. Connie Johnson does not meet the residency requirements to run for Senate in the 5th District and should be removed from the ballot, a judge has ruled.
Judge Douglas Long’s ruling chided Johnnson for attempting “at the eleventh hour, to cloud the strong documentary record that she has not been a resident of the 5th Senatorial District” for the mandatory year prior to the November election.
As reported in the Post-Dispatch, court documents and other records suggest that Johnson has been staying with her mother at a home in the city’s West End - which is both outside the House District she represents, and the State Senate she is seeking to represent.
One of Johnson’s two rivals from within the party - State Rep. Robin Wright-Jones - filed a lawsuit challenging her residency status.
In siding with Wright-Jones, Long cited a litany of evidence, presented at an all-day hearing Friday, that Johnson moved from a home on Tara Lane, in the city’s North Point neighborhood, to a house on Maple Avenue, across district boundaries.
The evidence included:
- A change of address form from the post office
- Employment records showing the Maple Avenue address
- Testimony from a tenant that rented Johnson’s Tara Lane home. The tenant, a city firefighter, contradicted Johnson’s claim that she remained in the house as a room mate.
- A campaign contribution from Johnson to Board of Aldermen President Lewis Reed listing her address on Maple Avenue.
- Testimony from city election officials who visited the Tara Lane home and found a slow-moving electric meter outside
The decision is interesting for all sorts of reasons, including its impact on the dynamics of the Senate race — Wright-Jones will now take on Rodney Hubbard one-on-one for the seat.
We’ll post more info as it becomes available … And, of course, a full story in Thursday’s ink edition.
Johnson
I have known Connie for some time now, I wish her the best in this setback. Not to add fuel to the fire, but is this considered a felony? If it is a felony her law license could be in jeopardy.