Libertarian congressional candidate Lana Leguía’s place on the November ballot in New Jersey’s 7th district is on hold after a state appellate court temporarily blocked a decision by Secretary of State Dale Caldwell validating her nominating petitions.
A two-judge Appellate Division panel granted a stay sought by the New Jersey Republican State Committee and ordered an accelerated appeal because of approaching deadlines for preparing and mailing general election ballots.
The court did not permanently remove Leguía from the ballot or decide whether a state law requiring petition circulators to be New Jersey residents is constitutional. Instead, the judges will initially consider a narrower question: whether Caldwell and the Department of State exceeded their authority by refusing to enforce the statute after determining that it was unconstitutional.
The Department’s June 11 decision will remain stayed “until further order of this court or the New Jersey Supreme Court,” Appellate Division Judges Jessica Mayer and Robert Vinci said.
Leguía submitted 759 signatures to qualify for the November ballot, and the Division of Elections accepted 755 of them. Independent and third-party congressional candidates need at least 250 valid signatures.
But Republicans challenged 670 signatures because they were collected by three New York residents. Without those signatures, Leguía would have just 85 valid signatures, leaving her well short of the number required to appear on the ballot.
Administrative Law Judge William Courtney initially sided with Republicans and ordered Leguía removed. Caldwell reversed Courtney’s ruling, finding that a 2021 federal court decision striking down a similar residency requirement for primary election petition circulators should also apply to independent and third-party candidates seeking access to the general election ballot.
Republicans contend that Caldwell, who also serves as lieutenant governor, does not have the authority to declare a state statute unconstitutional and disregard it. They maintain that only the judiciary may invalidate a law enacted by the legislature.
“As an officer of the Executive Branch, it is not within the Secretary of State’s purview to decide what the law should be; it is his job to apply the law as it is determined by the Legislature,” GOP attorney Jason Sena argued.
The Attorney General’s Office has defended Caldwell’s decision, maintaining that the Department merely applied the federal court’s ruling in Arsenault v. Way to two materially similar petition-circulator requirements.
The state also argues that the challenged signatures came from qualified voters in the 7th district and that Republicans have not alleged fraud or questioned Leguía’s eligibility to serve in Congress.
“At worst, the committee’s nominated candidate would suffer the inconvenience of an additional competitor on the general election ballot,” Deputy Attorney General Gordon Estes wrote.
The Appellate Division said the expedited portion of the appeal will focus solely on whether the Department exceeded its authority by deeming the circulator residency requirement unconstitutional and refusing to enforce it.
The Republican State Committee must file a brief of no more than seven pages by 4 PM today. Leguía and the Department of State must respond by 4 PM Thursday.
Because the constitutionality of the statute is implicated, the panel also asked the Attorney General’s Office to submit a brief by Thursday’s deadline.
The calendar has added urgency to the legal fight. The drawing for general election ballot positions is scheduled for August 10, followed by an August 31 ballot-preparation deadline. County election officials begin mailing vote-by-mail ballots on September 19.
The eventual ruling will determine whether Leguía joins Democrat Rebecca Bennett, Republican Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-Westfield) and independent candidate Seamus Patrick O’Toole in the 7th district contest.