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TagsDecision follows federal court ruling that he is ineligible
Former Olympian great Carl Lewis gave up on his attempt to run for the state Senate from Burlington County Friday, the day after a federal appeals panel ruled he is not eligible to be on the November ballot.
“You’re not going to get a chance to vote for me on the ballot, but you can actually vote for what I believe in,” Lewis said at a Mt. Laurel press conference.
Lewis announced he would not attempt to appeal the judges’ ruling, a decision that ends a five-month court fight over whether he met the state’s four-year residency requirement to run for the Legislature. Republicans, including Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, argue the nine-time gold medalist was not eligible.
“I said, ‘You know what? How many of you can walk and knock on thousands of doors and hear, gosh, over a thousand people say ‘I was your classmate,’ ‘I’m proud of you,’ ‘When you represented the United States, I cheered for you,’ ‘When you went to the New Jersey Hall of fame you deserved it,'” Lewis said.
Lewis said he intends to help the two Assembly candidates in his district, and Democratic candidates around the state.
Burlington Democrats now must decide if they will attempt to fill the Senate candidacy spot Lewis cannot fill. The deadline for placing a name on the ballot has passed.Lewis ruled out running for Congress in 2012, and could not say if he will attempt to run for state Senate again in two years, when he will meet the residency requirement.
—TOM HESTER SR., NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
