The controversy in the Second District Congressional race bleeds into another week. Monday, the Virginia Democrats sued state elections officials over questionable signatures to get Shaun Brown in the race as an independent.
Virginia Democrats are asking a judge to keep Brown off the ballot. The lawsuit cites 35 affidavits from voters, who say their signatures or their family members' signatures were forged on petitions supporting Brown's candidacy.
For the first time, we're hearing from the Democrat in this race.
Elaine Luria weighed in about the signature questions, which have grabbed headlines. Luria told us she's trying to focus on Second District issues. The state Democratic party, however, wants a judge to prohibit elections officials from printing Shaun Brown's name on the ballot "unless and until a thorough investigation" shows she has met the requirements.
Political analysts explain Luria stands to benefit from keeping Brown off the ballot because then, an independent candidate wouldn't split Democrats' votes.
“I'm out campaigning, knocking thousands of doors, talking to voters and we're talking about issues that are important to people across the Second District,” Luria said. “So, I'm really not concerned if there are two or three other people on the ballot. I think that our message will carry weight.”
Our investigation confirmed questions about who actually signed the documents. Some signatures under the microscope were collected by staffers of Republican Incumbent Rep. Scott Taylor.
“To put it simply the buck stops here with the persons in charge and I think that Scott Taylor has questions to answer,” Luria told reporters.
We've also uncovered another issue with these petitions, dealing with the address on some petitions. The address listed for Shaun Brown is not her address. The front page of the petition lists it as 5887 Campus Drive, but her attorney said Brown’s actual address is 5587. In fact, according to property records, the 5887 address doesn't exist.
Why could that matter? State code says if "The petition does not have the name ... and address of the candidate on the front of the form," the petition "shall be rendered invalid."
13News Now could not find anything in the code about what should happen if the address is incorrect.
Brown's attorney told 13News Now he doesn't believe this finding is significant to the matter at hand. He said what's at issue is people signing the petition to support Brown; her correct address on the document shouldn't matter.
“We did everything properly and anything else is just politics,” Brown told us Friday.
We asked Scott Taylor’s office for a statement on Monday’s developments.
A spokesperson said:
“The Democrats forced Shaun Brown, who was their nominee just two years ago, out of the Primary and now they will stop at nothing to keep her off the ballot in November. That is what this lawsuit is about.”
“Our campaign is focused on talking about Scott’s record serving the people of the 2nd District,” Scott Weldon wrote. “With respect to the, efforts by some in our campaign to assist Ms. Brown in getting on the ballot, there is an investigation that is ongoing and it obviously would not be appropriate to comment at this time. In the end, Ms. Brown secured her place on the ballot through her own efforts and Elaine Luria and her allies will stop at nothing to remove Shaun Brown.”
“Between the signatures that we know were fraudulently submitted by Congressman Taylor’s current and former staff, at least some of which were counted by the Board of Elections, and the over 1,600 other signatures that should be invalidated for other reasons, there is substantial evidence for the Court to mandate that the independent candidate’s name not be printed on the VA-02 ballot,” Jake Rubenstein, Democratic Part of Virginia Communications Director, said.
Monday, Brown directed any questions to her attorney.
“As a result of this unprecedented effort by my Republican opponent and the Democratic Party, I’m leaving everything to Attorney Jim Ellenson and the special prosecutor, while we are out on the campaign trail fighting to win in November,” she said.