The Supreme Court will consider two cases in which Democrat state lawmakers have been told they can’t run in the districts they want to, in the August primary.
The Missouri Court of Appeals on Thursday ruled Black Jack Representative Sylvester Taylor can’t run in a St. Louis County District against Representative Rochelle Walton Gray because he doesn’t live there. Wednesday, it ruled that St. Louis Representative Jamilah Nasheed can’t run in a St. Louis state Senate district against Senator Robin Wright-Jones and Representative Jeanette Mott Oxford, for the same reason.
The Supreme Court this afternoon agreed to hear both cases and to expedite them.
The Court took them up “on briefs,” meaning the cases presented to the appellate court are what the Supreme Court will consider. Spokeswoman Beth Riggert says it’s an unusual move.
“On occasion, the Court will have certain types of cases that it needs to expedite, and election cases like this where there is a deadline looming, the Court will do what it can to process the case and move it forward as quickly as it is able, while still giving the parties in the case a full opportunity to be heard, which is what’s happening here. The parties have already had the opportunity to fully brief the case and argue the case, and this allows the court to move that case forward as quickly as it is able to a decision.”
The Court’s decision could be handed down at any time, and could affect more than two dozen other candidates in the state.
AUDIO: Mike Lear reports, :55