Party Takes Candidacy Dispute to Appeals Court
By Hamil R. Harris
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
The D.C. Republican Party went to court yesterday in its latest challenge to the election of Michael Brown as an independent at-large member of the D.C. Council.
The party went to the D.C. Court of Appeals in hopes of getting a ruling that his candidacy violated a D.C. charter provision prohibiting four at-large members from all belonging to the majority party. Republican officials contend that Brown is really a Democrat and that he ran as an independent to increase his chances of winning.
The Republican Party earlier made similar arguments to the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics, which determined that Brown was eligible to run as an independent. Last week, the three-member board unanimously certified the results of the Nov. 4 general election.
Yesterday, Brown dismissed the legal challenge as a rerun of the same failed arguments. "The voters have spoken, and we will let the process run its course," he said, adding that he is looking forward to his swearing-in on Jan. 2.
Local Republican officials said that the charter clause protects the rights of minority parties in the District and prevents one political party from "monopolizing government."
They have said that Brown's campaign literature described him as an independent Democrat and that he made television appearances during the recent presidential campaign in which he was described as a Democratic consultant.
"By any definition, Mr. Brown is affiliated with the Democratic Party," said Charles Spies, legal counsel for the D.C. Republican Party, who filed the challenge on behalf of Robert Kabel, a District resident and chairman of the District of Columbia Republican Committee.
In a Nov. 21 letter to Spies, Kenneth McGhie, general counsel to the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics, wrote: "Notwithstanding Mr. Brown's political activities and associations, which you cite at length . . . He is not registered as a Democrat. Rather, he is, as his most current voter registration record indicates, independent."
View all comments that have been posted about this article.