LINCOLN — Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers gave notice to a Lancaster County district judge that he plans to be heard on a lawsuit that seeks to force the state Democratic Party to replace its former Senate candidate.
The three-page notice filed last week cites astate statutethat the attorney general “shall” be heard if a state law is alleged to be unconstitutional. Earlier this month, Lancaster County District Court Judge Susan Strong declined to grant William Forbes a temporary injunction to force the Nebraska Democratic Party to replace U.S. Senate nominee Cindy Burbank after she dropped out of the race.
Strong, in her ruling, said Forbes’ arguments would raise “serious constitutional concerns” and that he was unlikely to succeed in forcing the party to replace Burbank.
In his lawsuit, Forbescited a state lawthat reads: “If a vacancy on the ballot arises for any partisan office except President and Vice President of the United States before a general election, the vacancy shall be filled by the majority vote of the proper committee of the same political party.”
His attorneys argued that the law’s language requires a replacement.
Nebraska Democrats said Forbes is misreading state law because the statute he cited addresses the process that must be followed if a party chooses to replace a nominee — an interpretation that Strong so far seems to agree with.
Burbank’s short-lived candidacy was scrutinized as Republicans accused her of being “planted” in the race to boost nonpartisan U.S. Senate candidate Dan Osborn’s chances. Burbank filed her paperwork to withdraw one day after the secretary of state verified Osborn’s petition signatures to be on the fall ballot.
Forbes faced the same scrutiny after he was accused of helping incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts.
The Ricketts and Osborn campaigns denied any involvement with the two.
