Judge asked to rule on House candidate’s residency.
Benton Republican Tony Furman on Tuesday asked a judge to rule that fellow Benton Republican Marietta McClure is ineligible to run for the House District 28 seat that each is seeking because, Furman claimed, McClure doesn’t meet the residency requirement under the Arkansas Constitution.
In Furman’s petition for writs of mandamus filed in Pulaski County Circuit Court, Furman said he is the only qualified candidate to be on the ballot in House District 28 because he has been living in the 2600 block of Cherry Crossing in Benton for more than a year preceding the coming March 3 primary election.
Furman asked a judge to bar Saline County Clerk Doug Curtis and the county Election Board from tabulating and certifying votes for McClure. His suit also asked the court to direct the board to annul the certification of McClure as a candidate.
But McClure countered Tuesday night in a text message to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, “This is a desperate attempt to distract from the issues that matter to Saline County.
“I’m fully confident this lawsuit will go nowhere,” she said. “I look forward to getting this behind us so we can continue talking about economic growth, better educational opportunity, and how to best protect traditional values.”
In his court filing, Furman said McClure’s home is in House District 23 in the 400 block of Demuth Lane in Benton. He said she “has purchased in the eleventh hour, a small unsuitable residence in District 28, and she has not resided there for the requisite one year” before the election.
“Marietta McClure has taken minimal steps to portray a presence at the 309 West Narroway home purchased on December 23, 2019; however, the placement of a Christmas tree in the window, turning and leaving on a light in the house, and parking a vehicle in the same spot for days does not make one a resident,” Furman said in his court filing. “Nor does posting a single photograph on social media of her family during All Hallows Eve (at the fictitious residence) make one a resident there. Moreover, the photograph posted from the real residence while carving the jack-o-lanterns would negate any presumption of residency based upon their presence there.”
In an interview earlier this month with the Democrat-Gazette, McClure said, “I would not be running, if I did not meet the residency requirements.”
She said she moved into the house in District 28 on Oct. 31, and her family plans to remodel it. McClure said her family also owns a house in the 400 block of Demuth Lane, and it’s for sale.
McClure changed her voter registration precinct from District 23 to District 28 on Oct. 31 before filing in November to run in District 28, according to the secretary of state’s office.
After she filed for office, she said she and her husband signed a contract on a house in District 28 in August before she decided to run for the House seat. She said they took possession of the house under a lease, effective Oct. 31. Deeds for the transfer of the ownership of the house in the 300 block of West Narroway Street were filed on Dec. 23 in the Saline County assessor’s office, according to that office.
Under Article 5, Section 4, of the Arkansas Constitution, “No person shall be a Senator or Representative who, at the time of his election, is not a citizen of the United States, nor any one who has not been for two years next preceding his election, a resident of this State, and for one year next preceding his election, a resident of the county or district whence he may be chosen.”
A March 1999 advisory opinion from the attorney general’s office concluded that “a candidate for state senator or representative must have been, for one year next preceding the general election, a resident of the district from which elected.” The general election is Nov. 3.