Former Sandy Springs City Councilman Gabriel Sterling is challenging a recommendation by an Office of State Administrative Hearings judge that Democrat state House District 51 candidate Joshua McLaurin re-established his Georgia citizenship in September 2016 and is therefore eligible to be a candidate because he narrowly met the two-year requirement for residing in Georgia. “We are gratified that petitioner Sterling is appealing this flawed initial finding directly to Secretary of State Brian Kemp,” Fulton County GOP Chairman Trey Kelly said in a media release.
“We hope that the secretary will carefully review the case, determine that McLaurin is ineligible, disqualify him and remove his name from the ballot based on the facts,” Kelly said. Kemp says a determination by his legal staff will be made soon.
Sterling and his attorney Vincent Russo raise factual issues, including that McLaurin was an active and registered voter in New York in 2016 and was in temporary housing situations, including two stints at McLaurin’s parents’ home, rather than meeting Georgia’s domicile requirements.
“To be eligible to be a candidate for this House district,” a letter from Russo 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.
Russo notes 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.
A May 7th letter to Kemp from Russo says the opinion issued by the administrative law judge that McLaurin is eligible “is arbitrary and erroneous and will erode Georgia law regarding residency if adopted.” It concludes: “We ask that you reject the decision and find Mr. McLaurin ineligible to be a candidate. …”
The Republican general election candidate for the legislative seat, which includes part of Sandy Springs, Roswell, and Johns Creek, is Roswell resident and Sandy Springs native and attorney Alex Kaufman.
