HAMPTON, Va. (WAVY) — Former congressional candidate Shaun Brown filed a lawsuit this month claiming the Department of Elections, the Democratic Party of Virginia and incumbent Rep. Scott Taylor worked together to get her name knocked off of the November ballot.
The Hampton Circuit Court lawsuit was filed a little more than a month after a Richmond judge ordered that Brown’s name be taken off of the Nov. 6 ballot for the 2nd Congressional District race. The judge’s ruling came in the wake of reports that members of Taylor’s campaign staff allegedly forged signatures to help Brown get on the ballot.
In a lawsuit filed by the Democratic Party of Virginia the organization claimed that Taylor’s staff wanted Brown on the ballot to weaken support for his Democratic opponent, Elaine Luria.
But Brown claims that the Democratic Party and Taylor’s campaign were working together to “intentionally interfere” with her ability to run for Congress because they worried she would “steal” votes from Luria if she was on the ballot as an independent, according to her lawsuit filling.
Brown also claims that she was removed from the ballot on Sept. 5 without proper notice or time to appeal to the Virginia State Board of Elections.
Other defendants named in the suit include Virginia State Board of Elections employees Christopher E. Piper, James B. Alcorn, Clara Belle Wheeler, and Singleton B. McAllister, as well as Scott Taylor For Congress, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the Democratic National Committee.
She is asking for a judge to order each party named in the lawsuit to pay her $50,000 in damages.
