A letter to Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp from Atlanta attorney Vincent Russo on behalf of former Sandy Springs City Councilman Gabriel Sterling charges that Democratic Party state House District 51 candidate Joshua McLaurin is “not eligible to seek or hold that office.” It says he “ceased being a citizen of Georgia in 2016” and doesn’t meet Georgia’s two-year citizenship requirement or Georgia’s one-year House district residency.
His Republican general election opponent for the legislative seat, which includes part of Sandy Springs, Roswell, and Johns Creek, is Roswell resident and Sandy Springs attorney Alex Kaufman.
“To be eligible to be a candidate for this House district,” the letter says, “Mr. McLaurin must have maintained citizenship in Georgia since at least November 6, 2016 and he must have been a legal resident of House District 51 since November 6th, 2017.” But according to certified records of the New York City elections board, the letter continues, “McLaurin was registered to vote in New York on March 24, 2016 and he gave a sworn statement in his application that he was registered to vote at a New York apartment address.” It says the Democrat also voted in the New York presidential preference primary on April 19, 2016.
A press release from the Fulton County Republican Party quoted the challenge letter that McLaurin later changed his residence to an Alpharetta address– but Georgia has a two-year residency requirement. The letter states that he “ceased being a citizen of this state beginning in March 2016… and, as such, Mr. McLaurin is not eligible to be a candidate for House District 51.” The Democrat does “not even satisfy the one-year district residency requirement,” the complaint alleges.
The challenge by Sterling requests that Secretary of State Kemp, who oversees state elections, remove McLaurin’s name from the November 6th general election ballot.
