MONTGOMERY, ALa. — Artur Davis made headlines over the weekend when he filed a motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against the Alabama Democratic Party, the State Democratic Executive Committee’s (SDEC) Executive Board, and SDEC Chairwoman Nancy Worley for not allowing him to register as a Democratic candidate in Montgomery.
Davis was a Democratic member of Congress, serving Alabama’s 7th District for 8 years. In 2010 he lost his bid for Governor, and moved to Virginia where he switched to the Republican Party, even giving a well-received speech at the GOP convention in 2012. Last year he returned to his hometown of Montgomery in an unsuccessful attempt to run for mayor.
Soon after his failed mayoral campaign, Davis announced he would stay in Montgomery, switch back to the Democratic party, and make a run for County Commission.
“[My] supporters have strongly urged me to return to the Democratic Party, and they have reminded me that the topics I campaigned on — a living wage for Montgomery’s working poor, an aggressive effort to revitalize neglected communities — don’t exactly line up with the Alabama Republican Party’s priorities,” Davis wrote in an email floating his candidacy for the Commission.
Davis contends he is being unfairly singled out by the party, while others who have switched briefly have been welcomed back.
According to the Montgomery Advertiser, Davis was informed he could not register with the ADP on October 16th. In addition to filing suit against the party, he also filed his candidacy and paid fees with Montgomery County Executive Committee Chairwoman Dr. Tyna Davis, who then sent everything to the state party.
After not hearing back from the party, Davis filed the restraining order and injunction, alleging that his missing the chance to run for the County Commission would cause “immediate and irreparable injury” for which there is “no adequate remedy at law.”
“In light of the Party’s apparent failure or refusal to accept my qualifying papers and fee, I am being denied the opportunity to preserve my underlying legal challenge to the Party’s failure to reinstate me to the Democratic Party,” Davis said in the affidavit accompanying the filing.
The party’s deadline to file is Friday, November 6th.
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— Elizabeth BeShears (@LizEBeesh) January 21, 2015
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