Three Morgan Ortagus supporters filed a federal lawsuit late Thursday challenging the General Assembly-passed legislation that institutes a three-year residency requirement for federal candidates in primaries.
The state of Tennessee and Secretary of State Trey Hargett, in his official capacity, are named as defendants in the lawsuit.
Barbra Collins, Amy Dudley, and Donald Sobery filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee on Thursday.
The court filing stems from a bill that has yet to be transmitted to Governor Lee for his signature. Upon official receipt of the legislation, Lee will have 10 days to affix his signature, veto, or allow it to become law without his signature.
The deadline for candidates to file qualifying petitions is April 7. The Tennessee Secretary of State’s office previously told The Tennessee Star that August 4 primary ballots will be finalized by an April 21 deadline, which is likely after the legislation would become law.
One of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs is Charles R. Spies of Dickinson Wright PLLC, a former Romney staffer who was on the host committee for the Ortagus campaign’s D.C. fundraiser that was highlighted by Never Trumpers and RINOs. Spies’ wife, Lisa, was a prominent Never Trumper in 2016 and was the professional fundraiser for the event.
In the suit, the plaintiffs state that the legislation would prohibit them from voting for their favorite candidate, carpetbagger and D.C. insider, Morgan Ortagus. The complaint says, “Plaintiffs are ready, willing, and eager to vote for Ortagus in the Republican primary to be the party’s nominee for Congress in the 5th Congressional District.”
The lawsuit further says, “If this Provision is enforced and allowed to proceed, Ortagus would no longer be eligible to represent the 5th Congressional District and would be required to suspend her campaign, thereby robbing Plaintiffs of the opportunity to vote for their candidate of choice in the August 4, 2022 Republican primary.”
The suit alleges that if enacted into law, the new requirements would violate the Constitution. “The Provision impermissably [sic] limits who Plaintiffs can vote for based upon an unconstitutional requirement to serve as a Member of Congress.”
The prayer for relief in the filings asks the the court to declare that Ortagus can remain on the ballot, “Preclude Defendants from enforcing the Provision by removing Ortagus from the ballot in the August 7, 2022 primary”, and then declare the pending legislation unconstitutional. It also asks for the costs of attorneys’ fees.
This lawsuit comes the same day that the Ortagus campaign promoted an article rife with errors by the Wall Street Journal editorial board which blasted the pending legislation.
A few days earlier, The Tennessee Star reported that Jake Sherman of Punchbowl News and MSNBC wrote about a new federal Super PAC that was targeting the residency requirement bill and stated plans to fund a lawsuit. It is currently unclear if this is the same lawsuit that was referred to. However, the reporting did specifically mention Ortagus, and the timing appears to be part of a coordinated public relations effort.
The Star further reported that the Super PAC has possible connections to Morgan Ortagus.
Ortagus is not the only carpetbagger in the race. Under the legislation, New York native David Vitalli would be ineligible to run. California transplant Robby Starbuck would likely be off the ballot as well. Ortagus has been registered to vote in Tennessee for roughly four months. A Florida native, she spent many years living in New York City and Washington, D.C.
Read the lawsuit and exhibit:
[wonderplugin_pdf src=”https://thestarnewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/322-cv-00225_Complaint.pdf” width=”650%” height=”800px” style=”border:0;”]
[wonderplugin_pdf src=”https://thestarnewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/322-cv-00225_exhibit-1.pdf” width=”650%” height=”800px” style=”border:0;”]
– – –
Aaron Gulbransen is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected]. Follow Aaron on GETTR, Twitter, and Parler.
I’m from NJ where carpet baggers line the legislature and governor’s house for 56 years. There is nothing left to pick off of the carcus. We tax payers were run out of our homes and state per the fake mortgage crisis. We had been working and paying our bills. Then, Christie rose the property taxes 30% as jobs disappeared. He instilled a 13% exit fee on HUD sheets. Diversity was moved into foreclosed homes in the middle of the night. Planned Parenthood became a legislators dream ROI. Crime exploded. Now, NJ is a slum and no tax payers remaining to pay the rental fees for all the Sec 8 housing those legislators used as personal investments. Moral of the story…..keep carpet baggers out of your states. They’ve only come to pick pocket the natives of the state.
I hope the law is vetoed or the court overturns it. Tennesseans aren’t dumb. We should be allowed to vote for who want want. I won’t vote for Ortagus, but I don’t want someone forcing her to run as an independent, because then the vote will get split and the Dem will win. The 5th Congressional has bee held by a Dem since 1885. If 10% of conservatives vote for an independent, the Dem will win.
I am a conservative republican. However, I support what the Tennessee legislature has provide us residents of Tennessee.
Article I, § 2, cl. 2 sets the qualifications for a representative in the House: 25 years old, 7 years a citizen, and an inhabitant of the state. That’s it, there’s no residency requirement and this has been litigated multiple times in the past 200+ years.