As recounts in the midterm elections continue, GOP candidates who expected to win and have been ahead in the votes at some points in the process continue to cry foul and file lawsuits in order to stop votes from being counted. Democrats are expected to pick up 39 seats in the House, a decisive victory over Republicans.
A judge has dismissed Rep. Mia Love’s legal challenge to the ballot-counting process in Salt Lake Countyhttps://t.co/AhmqPQ0ccn
— The Salt Lake Tribune (@sltrib) November 16, 2018
One such candidate is Rep. Mia Love (R-UT), who stands to lose her seat in the race against Salt Lake Mayor Ben McAdams. The most updated totals currently show McAdams up by only 873 votes with 94 percent of precincts reporting. Love’s campaign team filed a lawsuit demanded that mail-in ballots stop being counted.
The Salt Lake Tribune quotes the judge’s ruling saying:
‘Although the Love Parties identified specific relief sought in the Petition, they failed to show an entitlement under Utah law to the relief sought. In other words, the Love Parties failed to point the Court to a single statute, rule or case that would entitle them to any of the relief sought in the Petition.’
Utah GOP Rep. Mia Love has pulled within 873 votes of Democrat Ben McAdams with 94 percent of precincts reporting https://t.co/NtUuf8T9Bj
— Roll Call (@rollcall) November 16, 2018
Love, once a rising GOP star, has been the focus of numerous controversies, with a campaign that admitted to “improper fund-raising,” an anti-LGBTQ email sent to supporters that the campaign was quick to blame on other parties, and false quotes from the local Deseret News in campaign mailers that the newspaper says they did not make.
The judge in the case was incredulous over the provisions requested by the Love campaign.
‘In effect, the campaign was asking the judge to “create expansive new rights” empowering candidates to intervene in ballot tabulation, he wrote. That debate belongs in the Legislature rather than in the courts, he later added.’
Third District Judge James Gardner, who heard the case Thursday afternoon, said in his ruling that @RepMiaLove's attorneys "failed to point the court to a single statute, rule or case that would entitle them to any of the relief" sought.#utpolhttps://t.co/ER4BQ3Kru3
— Deseret News (@DeseretNews) November 16, 2018
In essence, Love requested the right to throw out the work of the election officials when the race did not go her way. Although McAdams’ lead was small, it was significant enough that he is expected to take Love’s seat in January.
‘Neither a poll watcher nor a candidate enjoys a statutory right to challenge, override or re-do the type of work by an election official at issue in this case. And the Court declines the Love Parties’ invitation to create new rights not found in the Election Code.’
Of course it was. https://t.co/VSIHmsSiPD
— Attagirl (@cmtrako23) November 16, 2018
Should McAdams win, it will be even more proof that Trump is losing support, as Love’s district went easily to Trump over Hillary Clinton in 2016.
Featured image via Flickr by Gage Skidmore under a Creative Commons license
