UPDATED: Democrats boot one state candidate over residency
UPDATE: State Senate candidate Clara Dawkins-Davis successfully appealed her being removed from the ballot for the District 11 seat and was returned to the ballot. She faces incumbent Sen. Robert L. Jackson and James "Jimmy" S. Edwards Jr. in the August Democratic primary, which will determine the race for the district.
ORIGINAL STORY: One candidate for state office will not appear on the election ballot, because the Mississippi Democratic Party determined she lives in Nevada.
Clara Dawkins-Davis had filed papers to run against incumbent state Sen. Robert L. Jackson, D-Marks, but failed to provide sufficient evidence that she resides in District 11, according to a report from the party’s Executive Committee.
Davis-Dawkins was one of three Democratic candidates who faced qualification challenges from opponents claiming false residency. The committee held a hearing Friday to consider the challenges and issued its report Monday.
“Her claim that she owns property in this district was not supported with evidence and is irrelevant, since ‘domicile’ is the key term and that was not proven,” according to the report. “A Nevada driver’s license and out of state tag did not aid her argument.”
The other two candidates – incumbent state Rep. James Evans of Jackson and incumbent state Sen. Bill Stone of Holly Springs – were able to prove they live in the districts they seek to represent and will remain on the ballot.
In all, 205 Democrats and 218 Republicans qualified to run for a slate of political offices with four-year terms. Primary elections will be held Aug. 4; general elections Nov. 3.
None of the GOP candidates faced qualification challenges; the deadline to file petitions was March 9.
At issue in all three challenges were violations of the Mississippi Constitution, which requires legislative candidates to live in the state for at least four years, and live in the district they want to represent for at least two years, prior to the election.
Contact Emily Le Coz at (601) 961-7249 or elecoz@jackson.gannett.com. Follow @emily_lecoz on Twitter.