Complaint seeks to remove Starrett from Oregon ballot
SALEM — A prominent Republican lawyer filed a state elections complaint late Friday seeking to knock third-party gubernatorial contender Mary Starrett off the Nov. 7 ballot on grounds that her nomination process was legally flawed.
Starrett, a former TV talk show host and anti-abortion activist, is slated to appear on the fall ballot as the Constitution Party's nominee. Some Republicans fear that Starrett will play a spoiler's role this fall, taking votes away from GOP nominee Ron Saxton and tipping the race to incumbent Democratic Gov. Ted Kulongoski.
The complaint seeking to invalidate Starrett's candidacy was filed by Kelly Clark, a West Linn lawyer and former Republican state legislator who led the legal challenge against Multnomah County's move to legalize gay marriage.
Clark contends the Constitution Party violated state election law by failing to file a notice in a general circulation newspaper publicizing the party's June 3 nominating convention in Lake Oswego where Starrett was chosen to be the party's gubernatorial nominee.
"We searched every major newspaper, and we could not find any indication that they publicized a notice of their convention," Clark said in an interview Friday night.
"If we are right, and the party didn't follow proper process, then Mary Starrett doesn't belong on the ballot" he said.
The compliant asks the secretary of state's office to remove Starrett's name from the ballot by Wednesday, Clark said.
If that request is denied, then a lawsuit will be filed in Marion County Circuit Court seeking to invalidate Starrett's nomination, he said.
Clark said the lawsuit was not filed in coordination with the Saxton campaign or Oregon Republican Party solely as a way to keep a potential spoiler candidate such as Starrett off the November ballot.
Instead, he said he filed the lawsuit on behalf of several individual voters, some of who are supporters of Saxton, who were concerned about an apparent election law violation.
"This isn't about Mary Starrett," Clark said. "This is about the flawed process by which the Constitution Party is conducting its affairs.
"If they want to play in the big leagues, then they have to follow the big league rules," he said.
