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Constitution Party Gubernatorial Candidate Is Back On West Virginia Ballot

Hudok running for W.Va. governor seat

ELKINS — A Huttonsville man running for governor as a member of the Constitution Party is officially back on the ballot after the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia overturned a state Supreme Court of Appeals decision Thursday.

Phillip Hudok already has released his write-in candidacy, for which he filed for Tuesday afternoon, following the state Supreme Court’s opinion last week in a case involving Erik Wells, the husband of West Virginia Secretary of State Natalie Tennant. The case dealt with Wells’ effort to run for Kanawha County clerk against incumbent Vera McCormick.

Wells, a registered Democrat, filed as an independent after missing the Jan. 30 deadline to file in his own party. Kanawha County Circuit Judge Charles King ruled Wells was ineligible to run for the position.

The Supreme Court’s Sept. 15 ruling upholding King’s decision blocked ballot access to 18 local, state and national candidates, who all met the Aug. 1 deadline to file as non-party candidates.

Even after the decision, Hudok maintained that he followed the filing rules exactly, in compliance with state law.

“Basically, they (the District Court) said the ruling wasn’t fair to the candidates, because, first of all, we were going by policy and, second, in other Supreme Court cases, it already was found to be unconstitutional on a federal level,” Hudok said. “They said that to announce at such an early point in the campaign, that it was against their (candidates) free speech rights and it put an undue burden on them.”

The former schoolteacher said barring non-party candidates from having a later filing period was detrimental to the overall electoral process.

Tennant released a statement late Thursday praising the federal court’s decision.

“I am delighted by the court’s ruling today because these candidates will be able to be on the ballot,” Tennant said. “I have always fully supported ballot access for independent candidates and respect the wishes of the groups of citizens that support them. The court also acknowledged that the Secretary of State’s Office was compelled to follow the Supreme Court’s ruling when we removed six candidates from the ballot. With this ruling, the court has brought clarity in time for us to move forward and focus on providing a safe and efficient general election.”

Also on Thursday, West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals Justice Robin Davis issued her dissenting opinion on the Wells case. Davis wrote that the decision did not give enough weight to the portion of the West Virginia Code that directly addresses independent candidates.

“By dictating that a candidate who is a registered member of a recognized political party cannot run as an independent or unaffiliated candidate, the majority casts aside all of the provisions of West Virginia Code … in which the Legislature has painstakingly delineated the nomination process for such candidates,” she wrote.

Davis also argued the court’s decision not only impacted Wells, but also affected many other independent and third-party candidates.

“Individuals, be they candidates for political office or voters for such candidates, are constitutionally guaranteed the right to associate with others who share their beliefs. Because the majority’s decision in this case eviscerates this fundamental right, I resolutely dissent,” she wrote.

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