Rosalind Kurita Takes Democrats to Court

Senator Rosalind Kurita has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Nashville to reinstate her name on the November 4 ballot as the rightful Democratic candidate for Senate District 22. The suit lists as defendants the Tennessee Democratic Party; every member of the Tennessee Democratic Party's executive committee that overturned the primary election; the candidate who benefited from it, Tim Barnes; Robert E. Cooper Jr., Tennessee attorney general; Secretary of State Riley Darnell; Brook K. Thompson, state coordinator of elections; and the election commission administrators for Cheatham, Houston, and Montgomery counties. Click here for the complete document.

The lawsuit claims that state law TCA 2-17-104 is unconstitutional and "violates the due process requirements of the Fourteenth Amendment." It also asserts there are no provisions specified in the Tennessee Code to settle a disputed election. Because due process was not given to Senator Kurita, the decision of the committee should be overturned and either her name be placed on the November ballot as the Democratic candidate or a special election be held to determine the nominee.

The Tennessee Democratic Party's official response to the lawsuit is laughable:

“We’re disappointed that Sen. Kurita is trying to throw a legal wrench into a political primary process that was conducted under a state law approved by former Republican Gov. Winfield Dunn,” said Gray Sasser, chairman of the Tennessee Democratic Party.

“On the other hand,” Sasser added, “we’re glad that Sen. Kurita appears to be acknowledging that she is, in fact, Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey’s hand-picked candidate in the Tennessee Democratic primary."

"Hand-picked" is a description Democrats would be wise to avoid in this particular election, especially since that is in fact how their anointed candidate, Barnes, was chosen.

The press release continues:

“It’s now abundantly clear that Sen. Kurita has been receiving considerable aid and comfort, both financial and legal in nature, from national Republicans who are bent on interfering in the Tennessee Democratic primary,” Sasser said. “We’re calling on Lt. Gov. Ramsey to get out of the Democratic primary process and put a stop to this legal monkeying by the national Republican Party.”

Memo to Gray Sasser: the Democratic primary is over. There's no primary "to get out of" anymore. The general election is on November 4; contrary to what you think, Republicans can--and will--vote in this election and they can--and should--vote for Senator Kurita.

It's true that Republican leaders support Senator Kurita and she has accepted their assistance in political and fundraising support. One of her lawyers is even a Republican, as blogger Sean Braisted points out. Can you blame her after the way her own party treated her? Who in their right mind would want to be part of a political party that takes away your rightful nomination and gives it to the man you beat?

Meanwhile voters continue to give their opinions both for and against the stolen election in the Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle.

The Tennessee Democratic Party disputes Senator Kurita's claim that she did not know about the rules of the executive committee hearing on September 13 until the morning of the hearing. In his "Pith in the Wind" blog at the Nashville Scene, Jeff Wood writes:

[Tennessee Democratic P]arty spokesman Wade Munday tells Pith that's not the way it went down. “There were all the rules that she agreed to through counsel prior to the meeting that Saturday. The terms were agreed upon prior to the meeting.” Munday adds:

“The executive committee acted in its rightful capacity as the state primary board. All the actions taken were conducted in the open and in accordance with state law established in 1972."

I wrote Mr. Munday myself and asked which state law he was referring to and he kindly sent me the details:
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2-13-102. Creation of state primary boards.

(a) Each political party shall have a state executive committee which shall be the state primary board for the party.

(b) The state primary board shall perform the duties and exercise the powers required by this title for its party.

(c) The state primary board of each statewide political party created by this section is the immediate successor to the state board of primary election commissioners of each party. Wherever in the Tennessee Code the state board of primary election commissioners of a political party is referred to, “state primary board” shall be substituted.

[Acts 1972, ch. 740, §§ 1, 8; T.C.A., § 2-1303.]
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It seems to me the Tennessee Democratic Party considers the state executive committee (which is also the state primary board) to be the final authority for choosing their candidate. If this is the case, why should tax dollars and voters' time be wasted on a primary whose result can be overturned on the whim of a political party? Obviously there's no need for one if Democrats have a preference between one or more candidates and will give it to the one they want anyway. (In this case, there was no hiding the fact that Democratic bosses did not want Rosalind Kurita back in the state senate.)

Meanwhile, Senator Kurita will continue her write-in campaign and announced that she will open campaign offices in Clarksville and Ashland City tomorrow and one in Erin soon.