Carl Lewis appealing to N.J., U.S. courts to allow his candidacy

Olympic track and field star Carl Lewis still can't run for a Burlington County state Senate seat.

U.S. District Judge Noel Hillman turned down Thursday Lewis' petition to declare the state's four-year residency requirement unconstitutional.

But Lewis isn't finished.

"We're going to keep going until we get him back on the ballot," said his attorney, William Tambussi.

Tambussi said he would appeal Thursday's federal court decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia. He also has filed a complaint with the Superior Court of New Jersey Appellate Division. Both matters could be heard as early as Friday in the separate courts.

Lewis, 49, of Medford, wants to run as a Democrat in Burlington County's solidly Republican Eighth District against freshman Republican State Sen. Dawn Marie Addiego, 48, of Evesham.

He registered to vote in the district on April 11 - the same day he filed papers to run for Senate.

Lewis has owned homes in New Jersey since 2005 and maintained a New Jersey driver's license since 2006. He voted in California in 2009.

The Burlington County GOP challenged his candidacy, saying he didn't meet the state's four-year residency requirement.

Although Republicans have a tight grip on the district, which covers much of the east side of Burlington County, they have fiercely opposed the nine-time gold-medal winner's candidacy.

Within days of Lewis' announcement, Republicans filed the residency challenge to knock him off the ballot. Administrative Law Judge John Schuster 3d ruled April 20 that Republicans had failed to prove Lewis was not a New Jersey resident. On Tuesday Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, acting as the secretary of state, rejected Schuster's recommendation and removed Lewis from the race.

This week, Lewis said Gov. Christie tried to persuade him not to run. The governor's office said Lewis misunderstood the governor's sentiments in an April 10 phone call between the two.

The federal court arguments Thursday hinged on whether the state's four-year residency requirement violated the U.S. Constitution.

Looking to a 1985 U.S. Supreme Court decision in a New Hampshire state Senate residency case, Hillman said the state had a compelling interest to impose the four-year residency requirement. The requirement exists so candidates can learn about their districts and voters can learn about the candidates. Residency requirements, he said, should be decided by the state.

Tambussi argued that times have changed since the state's constitution was drafted more than 160 years ago and updated in 1945.

With the Internet, one could learn about a district "by being a hermit in an apartment with access to a computer. So why is it you need to live here four years?" Tambussi asked.

But Mark Sheridan, attorney for the Burlington County Republicans, said the state's compelling interest was to assure that voters "know the candidate. It's not to know the candidate's name, how fast the candidate is, or how many gold medals the candidate has. It's to know what the candidate's platform is." He added that "not a single voter in New Jersey knows" Lewis' platform.

Lewis' spokesman Chris Walker said Lewis has been so tied up with the court challenges that he hasn't had a chance to roll out his platform. Lewis was not in court Thursday because he had a previous commitment with one of his sponsors, Hersheypark.

Sheridan also argued that New Jersey voters approved of the residency requirement when they ratified the state's constitution.

Hillman agreed, saying "voters of New Jersey have long had the power to change this provision and at least twice passed on that."

In his complaint to the Third Circuit, Tambussi said he would argue that "we do not believe New Jersey voters are bound by an almost 40-year-old decision that deals with some legislators in New Hampshire. All Carl Lewis wants to do is run for office."