Appeals Court Removes Olympian Carl Lewis From NJ Senate Race Ballot
PHILADELPHIA (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A federal appeals court has removed nine-time Olympic gold medalist Carl Lewis from the ballot in a New Jersey state Senate race, finding he does not meet a four-year residency requirement.
The ruling comes nine days after the same three-judge panel ruled he was eligible to run. He would've challenged Sen. Dawn Marie Addiego, a freshman GOP incumbent who moved up from the Assembly last year.
New Jersey election officials and some Republicans say the Democrat does not meet the state's four-year residency requirement for state senators.
Lewis' lawyers argue that he meets the requirement because he moved to the state in 2005. And if that doesn't count, they say the residency rule is unconstitutional.
Lewis, 50, grew up in Willingboro, a middle-class suburb between Philadelphia and Trenton. He went to college in Texas and has lived in California recently, voting there through 2009. He has homes in Medford and Mount Laurel in New Jersey, and in Pacific Palisades, Calif. He's been a volunteer high school track coach in native Willingboro since 2007.
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