Challenge to mayor candidate Zeph Baker’s residency appealed to Superior Court

Columbus mayoral candidate Beth Harris has appealed the local elections board’s decision to let rival Zeph Baker stay in the race despite her challenging his residency.

Her appeal is to Muscogee Superior Court, which will hold a hearing to review the Muscogee County Board of Elections and Registrations’ April 5 decision not to disqualify Baker for filing a homestead exemption on a residence in Newnan, Ga., where Baker said his wife Sharon Cosby lives.

Baker maintains his primary residence remains 1091 Bolton Court, the address listed on his notice of candidacy.

City law requires the mayor to live in Columbus. Harris said she doesn’t believe Baker lives here.

“There are just too many discrepancies,” she said Tuesday. “I really don’t think he provided enough information.”

She noted that elections board member U.D. Roberts, the local Republican Party representative, felt Baker left too many questions unanswered. Roberts was the only board member to vote against keeping Baker in the race.

The board rejected Harris’ challenge on a 3-to-1 vote after a motion from Linda Parker, the local Democratic Party representative, who said, “I say let the people decide.”

Others voting to reject the challenge were Eleanor White and Diane Scrimpshire. The board chair, Margaret Jenkins, votes only in the event of a tie.

Said Harris: “I basically feel like if the law had intended for the citizens and voters to decide on residency, then they would not have tasked the board of elections with those duties.” She believes Baker’s home is in Newnan, whether he spends every night there or not, she said.

Harris filed her challenge March 22, appending documents showing Baker and Cosby have a homestead exemption on a house at 40 Lantana Way in Coweta County.

Baker accused Harris of campaigning through the courts instead of appealing to the public:

“I think she really is abusing the court system, and using it as a campaign strategy,” he said.

He previously explained that he met Cosby in Atlanta, where she owns a business in the metro area. Buying a house in Newnan was a way to split the distance between her work and his home in Columbus, and to avoid disrupting their children’s lives, he said.

Legal standards

Georgia law requires election boards to consider up to 15 factors in determining a candidate’s residency, including employment, business interests, primary mailing addresses, and “motor vehicle and other personal property registration.”

The state Supreme Court in a 2008 decision titled Handel v. Powell ruled a homestead exemption cannot be the sole deciding factor.

Harris appealed the board’s decision under a state law that sets these standards for the Superior Court review:

The judge decides the case based solely on the record of the election board’s meeting, and may uphold the board’s ruling or send the challenge back for further review.

Overturning the board requires the judge to find that its decision violated the state constitution, exceeded the board’s authority, was clearly in error, or was an arbitrary abuse of discretion.

Either party may appeal the Superior Court judge’s ruling to the Georgia Court of Appeals or state Supreme Court.

Muscogee County had similar appeals in 2016, when the elections board disqualified four candidates for sheriff on allegations they failed to meet filing deadlines. Because the sheriff’s office provides security for the county’s Superior Court judges, all the local judges recused themselves based on a conflict, and outside judges were appointed to hear the appeals.

The mayor’s race will be decided along with other local, nonpartisan elections on May 22. The deadline to register to vote is April 24, and early voting starts April 30. The elections office already is mailing out absentee ballots.

The other mayoral candidates are Danny Arencibia, Charles Roberts, Winfred Shipman, and Berry “Skip” Henderson.

This story was originally published April 17, 2018 at 3:51 PM with the headline "Challenge to mayor candidate Zeph Baker’s residency appealed to Superior Court."