On Wednesday, July 31, 2024, the Louisiana Illuminator reported that a Baton Rouge judge ruled to allow all three candidates for the Louisiana Supreme Court’s District 2 race to remain on the ballot. Judge Donald Johnson of the 19th Judicial District declined to remove two candidates, Marcus Hunter and Leslie Chambers, from the race despite a lawsuit seeking their disqualification over late tax filings and residency issues.
The lawsuit was brought by Elise Knowles Collins, a Black voter from Baton Rouge of over 40 years, who alleged that Hunter and Chambers did not meet the qualifications to run for Supreme Court justice. Collins claimed that Hunter and Chambers had failed to file all their state income tax returns for the last five years as required. She also argued that Chambers should be removed from the ballot for not residing in District 2, the newly redrawn majority-Black seat covering Baton Rouge and Monroe.
Hunter is a judge on the Second Circuit Court of Appeal, while Chambers is chief of staff for the Louisiana Housing Corporation. The third candidate, John Michael Guidry, is chief judge of the First Circuit Court of Appeal. All three candidates are Black Democrats competing for the new District 2 seat on the state Supreme Court.
During the seven-and-a-half-hour court hearing, Hunter and Chambers admitted to filing some individual income tax returns late, but their lawyers argued this should not disqualify them from running. Rosie Harger, Hunter’s accountant, said she tried to file his 2022 and 2023 returns on July 16th, the day before he entered the race, but a technical error prevented it until last week. Chambers thought she filed her late 2022 return through TurboTax in early June but it may not have been transmitted to the state revenue department.
Collins’ attorneys pushed back, saying the key point was whether the tax department actually received the returns on time. Judge Johnson ultimately ruled in favor of Hunter and Chambers, finding they made good faith efforts to file and rejecting the arguments they should be removed.
On the residency issue, Chambers admitted living in Ascension Parish for over a decade, outside of District 2, but her lawyer Gray Sexton argued the one-year requirement should be waived since the new district map was only approved three months ago. Chambers pledged to move to Baton Rouge if elected.
Had Hunter and Chambers been disqualified, Guidry would have been the lone remaining candidate and won the seat by default. It was disclosed in the hearing that Collins’ daughter works as an attorney for Guidry. His connection to the plaintiff raised suspicions, though Guidry could not comment as a judge.
The Louisiana Association of Business and Industry supports Guidry, while trial attorneys backing Chambers hope for a competitive race. Any appeal of Judge Johnson’s ruling could go straight to the Louisiana Supreme Court instead of the First Circuit due to Guidry’s role as chief judge there.
One-third of Louisiana residents are Black, but only one of the previous seven state Supreme Court districts had a Black majority. The District 2 election in November will add a second justice from a predominantly Black constituency, enhancing representation. Judge Johnson’s decision allows voters rather than the courts to decide who gets elected to this important newly redrawn seat.
Source: Louisiana Illuminator
