The attorney for State Representative Paul Hollis filed his legal challenge to Senator Mary Landrieu’s (D-LA) candidacy for the U.S. Senate at 4:32 pm on Friday, two minutes after the 4:30 pm deadline outlined in Louisiana Election Code.
The law says the deadline for commencing a legal action objecting to the qualifications of a candidate ends seven days after end of the qualifying period. The qualifying period ended at 4:30 pm, Friday August 22, meaning the seven-day window to commence legal action ended at 4:30 pm, Friday August 29.
Spokespersons for the 19th Judicial District of Louisiana and the Secretary of State of Louisiana confirmed that the lawsuit, Paul Hollis versus Mary L. Landrieu and Tom Schedler, Louisiana Secretary of State, was recevied by fax at 4:32 pm on Friday, August 29 in the accounting department of the 19th Judicial District. At 4:39 pm the accounting department placed a received stamp on the faxed petition, and assigned it Docket Number 633179.
The case was assigned to Section 27, over which Judge Todd Hernandez presides.
In the petition, submitted by attorney Matthew Monson of Mandeville, Louisiana, counsel for Hollis, Monson argued that “Mary L. Landrieu is not an inhabitant of Louisiana as required by La R.S. 18:1275(A). Therefore Mary L. Landrieu is not qualified to be a candidate for United States Senate from Louisiana.”
Landrieu, the petition continued, “lists her residence in Louisiana as 4301 S. Prieur Street, New Orleans, Louisiana, 70125. Mary L. Landrieu does not inhabit that property. In fact, it is her parents’ residence that she only occasionally visits. Mary L. Landrieu is in reality a full-time permanent inhabitant of the District of Columbia.”
In the petition, “Hollis respectfully moves this court to uphold his objection to candidacy and disqualify Mary. L. Landrieu as a candidate for this office on the basis that she does not meet the qualifications of the office she seeks in the primary election pursuant to La. R.S. 18:1492(A)(3).”
Hollis requested a trial date for 10 am, Friday September 5.
The petition, with both the 4:32 pm and 4:39 pm time stamps, is embedded here:
While legal challenges from Hollis and Maness have both generated significant publicity, it appears entirely possible that neither challenge will make it in to full court proceedings.
By filing two minutes late, the Hollis challenge may be subject to dismissal by Judge Hernandez on grounds it did not commence within the seven-day window specified in the law.
The Maness challenge, which was not a formal court action, but instead a complaint filed with four parish District Attorneys, has but one slender hope for making it to the courts. Due to a quirk in the law, East Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar Moore III may be able to file an action objecting to Senator Landrieu’s candidacy by noon on Tuesday, since his office closed early on Friday for the Labor Day weekend.
Breitbart News spoke with District Attorney Moore’s secretary Tuesday and requested information on whether he intends to file an action objecting to Senator Landrieu’s candidacy prior to the noon deadline today, but has not yet received a response.
Breitbart News also spoke with the secretary for Matthew Monson, the attorney representing State Representative Paul Hollis on Tuesday and requested Mr. Monson’s comments on the consequences of the two-minute late filing of the legal challenge on Friday. Mr. Monson has not yet responded to that request.