The Utah Democratic Party filed a lawsuit in federal court yesterday to remove Joel Ferry from the general election ballot in House District 1.
After Ferry was appointed by Gov. Cox to lead the Department of Natural Resources, he refused to give up his seat in the legislature, unconstitutionally serving in both the Executive and Legislative branches for months before finally resigning under pressure. However, he still remains on the ballot in HD-1, even though he clearly is not constitutionally eligible for the office (and his continuing place on the ballot violates the Hatch Act, a federal law designed to keep government offices free of patronage and politics).
Last month, the Utah Democratic Party sent a letter to the Lieutenant Governor demanding that Ferry be removed from the ballot due to his clear ineligibility to serve, but she declined to do her job, passing the buck and prioritizing partisan and political loyalty over fairness and the rule of law.
“Joel Ferry finally resigning doesn’t mean that the issue of his presence on the ballot is solved. Since the Lieutenant Governor refuses to remove him, and he will not remove himself, we had no other choice but to bring this in front of a judge,” said Chair Diane Lewis.
“This is a matter of fairness, ethics, and accountability. The people of House District 1 deserve better than a straw-man candidate standing in for whomever a small group of radical GOP insiders choose to fill the seat. This is nothing more than shady, back-room political dealing seeking to cut voters out of the equation entirely, and that is why we’re asking a judge to force Ferry’s removal from the ballot.”
The Utah Democratic party is the face and voice of Democrats in the State of Utah. We believe that Utahns deserve strong, competent leadership that puts the people and democracy first.
Original source can be found here.
