Once known as the "fastest man alive"....Carl Lewis is attempting a different kind of running in a different kind of race.
Politics....
Courtesy.....Huffington Post:
Carl Lewis Senate: Runner Cleared To Seek Office In New Jersey
TRENTON, N.J. -- Nine-time Olympic gold medalist Carl Lewis should be allowed to continue his bid for the New Jersey Senate because Republicans have failed to prove he doesn't live in the state, a judge ruled Wednesday.
Administrative Law Judge John Schuster III recommended that a petition to strip Lewis' name from the June primary ballot be dismissed.
The judge cautioned that he had not found that Lewis, among the greatest athletes of all time, had attained residency status – only that the challengers didn't meet the burden of proof that he lives elsewhere.
"Petitioners have not met their burden to demonstrate respondent has not attained resident status to seek state Senate office," the judge wrote in a 10-page ruling issued Wednesday.
Lewis, who as a track star in the 1980s and '90s was noted for his blistering pace and dominance of the long jump and 100-meter dash, is a Democrat making his first run for elected office. Republicans challenged his bid to run in the primary by claiming he had not lived in the state the required four years.
The judge, who heard the case only a day before he issued his nonbinding decision, said the time constraints prohibited a record from being fully developed. That could be significant as his initial decision on Lewis' political future is forwarded to Republican Secretary of State Kim Guadagno, who's required to adopt, modify or reject it by Thursday's deadline.
Guadagno's decision can be appealed to the Appellate Division.
Lewis said Wednesday that he was pleased with the judge's decision and was confident the secretary of state, who's also the lieutenant governor, would uphold it.
"The voters want to know where the candidates stand on the serious issues facing New Jersey and their visions for the future," Lewis said. "They're not interested in partisan sideshows that distract from that important discussion."
