Late Tuesday, District Judge Donald Johnson ruled that two of the three candidates vying to serve on the Louisiana Supreme Court may remain in the running for the seat after their candidacy was challenged.
First Circuit Court of Appeal Chief Judge John Michael Guidry, Second Circuit appellate judge Marcus Hunter and Louisiana Housing Corporation Chief of Staff Leslie Ricard Chambers are running in the Supreme Court’s recently redrawn Second District. State lawmakers earlier this year reapportioned the judicial boundaries to carve out a second majority-Black voting district for the seven-member high court. It includes 17 parishes from Iberville stretching north along the Mississippi River up to Monroe.
In making his ruling, Judge Johnson acknowledged the candidates and recognized the monumental nature of the race.
“Imagine that! The second Black justice on our Supreme Court and this is 2024,” he said. “So I do not lightly take this issue. I do not have favorites when it comes to the law or the evidence. I rule on the merits of what’s been presented to me.
“So here’s my decision: Judge Hunter and candidate Chambers are not disqualified.”
Hunter, Chambers and their respective campaign teams emerged victorious at the end of the nearly seven-hour hearing.
“This was the ruling that I’d hoped for, that the voters would have an opportunity to select their next Supreme Court justice," Chambers said, standing outside the courtroom. "So I’m thankful for the ruling Judge Johnson rendered tonight, I think it was the right one.”
Hunter echoed in the sentiments, saying the ruling was the correct one.
“I have always been crazy enough to believe that God would take care of it," he told reporters. "I’ve relied on faith in stepping out to run for this office and nothing has changed as of today.”
It's likely the opening salvo in a legal battle headed for further action. The plaintiff's attorneys said they plan to file an appeal this week.
The petition for an injunction filed July 26 in 19th Judicial District Court alleged that Hunter and Chambers failed to meet qualifying standards for the state race and sought to get them disqualified from the ballot.
The plaintiff, a 73-year-old Baton Rouge woman named Elise Knowles Collins, said in the filing that Chambers lives outside the judicial district and Hunter failed to file state income taxes in three of the last five years, a requirement to run for the post under state law.
If Johnson had granted the injunction in full, it would have eliminated all of Guidry’s opposition for the revamped Supreme Court seat before the Nov. 5 primary. Louisiana Supreme Court justices serve 10-year terms.
The plaintiff claimed that Chambers doesn’t meet the residency requirements to run in the Supreme Court district where she’s mounted her campaign. Qualifying standards in the Louisiana constitution say candidates must be domiciled in-district at least a year before the election date to be legitimate contenders for public office.
According to property records on the Ascension Parish Assessor’s Office website, Chambers bought a Prairieville home in 2011 and refinanced the mortgage in 2021. The Assessor’s Office lists it as the residence where she takes her homestead exemption.
The lawsuit alleged Chambers works out of her home and has listed the address repeatedly on her campaign records as well as when she registered her firm with the Secretary of State in October.
While Louisiana requires candidates to live in districts they seek to represent, the exact definition of residency is not always clear. Courts often interpret it generously, saying the law favors encouraging candidates to run for office.
In the past, Louisiana courts have given leeway to candidates running in reapportioned districts, shutting down challenges to their candidacy if they lived in the old districts at least a year before the lines were redrawn. Ascension Parish was not in the Supreme Court’s second district before the new map took effect this year. It was in the court’s fifth district, along with East Baton Rouge and six other parishes.
Property records indicate Hunter's house is in a voting precinct in south Monroe that’s within the portion of Ouachita Parish included in the Supreme Court district’s boundaries. State law also requires Supreme Court candidates to file their state and federal taxes for each of the five years leading up to elections in order to run.
Candidates who haven’t filed can still qualify if they’ve filed for extensions on their tax submissions.
In the lawsuit, the plaintiff alleged a public records request from the Louisiana Department of Revenue showed Hunter didn’t file his state taxes in 2021, 2022 or 2023, even though he claimed he did when he filled out his notice of candidacy form for the November election.
The plaintiff argued that should be sanctioned by a judge removing him from the ballot.
Judge Johnson heard arguments during the marathon-hearing inside the 19th Judicial District Courthouse on Tuesday afternoon. The plaintiff testified that she learned of deficiencies in Hunter and Chambers' qualifications from her daughter, who she said is a law clerk in Judge Guidry's office.
Chambers acknowledged that she's never lived in East Baton Rouge Parish, but her attorneys challenged the constitutionality of the state's one-year residency challenge in realigned voting districts. In addition to the residency challenge, the lawsuit alleged Chambers failed to file her 2022 state taxes. Chambers testified that in June, she used Turbo Tax to e-file her own returns for that year.
Hunter's personal accountant testified that she filed his 2021 taxes two years ago, and filed his 2022 and 2023 returns July 16. The three-day qualifying period for the race began one day later.
The plaintiff contested they satisfied the requirements to run for office, arguing the Louisiana Department of Revenue never processed or accepted either candidates' tax filings.
