State high court won’t put ousted GOP hopeful back on the ballot
NASHVILLE — Tennessee’s highest court ruled Friday that the state’s Republican Party did not violate open meeting laws when it ousted a congressional hopeful from the GOP primary ballot.
The Supreme Court’s ruling reverses a lower court’s decision that had ordered video producer Robby Starbuck back on the ballot. Last week, the lower court had ruled the Tennessee Republican Party’s state executive committee failed to follow the state’s open meeting laws when it voted to remove Starbuck and others from the ballot in April in a closed-door session. The Supreme Court’s overturn came on the final day that the state has said candidates could be added to the ballot.
Officials with Tennessee’s Republican Party have said that Starbuck, small business owner Baxter Lee and former State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus did not meet the requirements to be a bona fide Republican when the executive committee secretly met to vote on who would qualify as GOP candidates in the August primary election.
In court filings, attorneys for the state Republican Party have argued that removing the candidates was a “purely private intraparty decision.” State GOP Chairman Scott Golden said Friday’s decision “completely vindicated” the party’s actions.
“We have always maintained that the actions of myself, the Party, the staff, and Members were conducted honestly and in accordance with the many state laws regarding ballot access for Republican candidates, and the verdict today has affirmed our belief,” Golden said in a statement.
In a statement Friday, Starbuck said he’s “heartbroken for the people of Tennessee that this was allowed to happen.”
“The system that was upheld today by the TN Supreme Court is sadly reminiscent of Cuba where a central committee removes real candidates and gives the people only party puppets to choose from,” tweeted Starbuck, whose family fled Cuba for the U.S.
According to Friday’s unanimous opinion, the Supreme Court ruled that while the Republican Party’s state primary board must follow the Tennessee Open Meetings Act.