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Keadle challenges Cunningham's residency
BY
MARK WINEKA
SALISBURY POST
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Republican Scott Keadle charges that Democratic opponent Cal Cunningham hasn't lived in N.C. Senate District 23 long enough to qualify as an official candidate.
Keadle, in a certified letter to Cunningham and the Davidson County Board of Elections, claims that Cunningham does not meet the one-year residency requirement in the district, should he be elected Nov. 7.
Cunningham counters that he meets the residency requirement and has documentation that proves Davidson County has always been his permanent home, from which he he was only temporarily gone through the years to complete his schooling.
"This is not an issue," said Cunningham, a recent University of North Carolina Law School graduate and a practicing attorney in Lexington.
"Lexington is my home, and I am focusing on the issues voters care about like reforming education and reforming health
care."
The N.C. Constitution requires that a state senator "at the time of his election, shall ... have resided in the district for which he is chosen for one year immediately preceding his
election."
Keadle charges that Cunningham voted in Carrboro Nov. 2, 1999, evidence that he was a resident of Orange County a year ago. Cunningham
didn't register to vote in Davidson County until Nov. 12, 1999.
Keadle says he also can show that Cunningham was taking a three-day-a-week trusts and estates class in Chapel Hill until Dec. 2 last year and
didn't graduate from law school until the end of 1999 — further proof, Keadle says, that Cunningham was living outside of District 23.
N.C. Senate District 23 covers portions of Rowan, Davidson and Iredell counties.
"I'm quite certain Cal Cunningham does not meet the constitutional requirements for this
job," Keadle, a Salisbury dentist, said Friday. "He would have had to have been a resident of this district for one year prior to his election, and
there's a large body of evidence to indicate that he was not.
"I want everybody to have to play by the rules like I do."
Keadle said he expected Cunningham to be disqualified.
Davidson County Elections Director Ruth Honeycutt said she would forward Keadle's complaint to the Davidson County Board of Elections, which meets at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday.
"They will just be given it, then it's in their hands," Honeycutt said. "The first step is for the board to be made aware of the
complaint."
Honeycutt said if the board wanted to pursue the matter, it would probably set a hearing date. It would take several days, Honeycutt added, for all necessary parties to be notified of a hearing, including the Libertarian candidate in the race, Larry Clark.
The Davidson County Board of Elections has two Democrats and a Republican. The Democrats are Chairman H.L. Hill, a retired dairyman; and William Fritts, a Lexington attorney. The Republican is Thomasville attorney Randy Cranford.
Cunningham filed an affidavit with the Davidson County Board of Elections in response to
Keadle's complaint.
By having registered to vote in Orange County, Cunningham swore that he was a resident of that county, which is not part of District 23, Keadle says.
Cunningham counters that the N.C. Board of Elections defines a candidate's residence as
"that place from which when absent an individual has the intent to return
thereto." He emphasizes that the key issue, according to the elections law, is where the candidate intends to reside.
"The only purpose that has ever removed me from the district is completing my
education," Cunningham said. "As soon as I finished my education, I returned
home."
Documents supplied by Cunningham to the Board of Elections and to the Post show that he maintained his contact with the district and returned home as soon as his schooling was complete, he says.
The documents include his driver's license, application to the state bar, residency application for in-state tuition to law school, U.S. Navy paperwork, car registration, tax returns, employment information, personal correspondence, a magazine subscription, alumni and educational foundation memberships and bank statements from Lexington State Bank.
All of the information lists 7 Canterbury Place, his parents' home in Lexington, as his address and where Cunningham says he maintained his permanent address until May. Cunningham married this May, and he and his wife moved to West Second Avenue in Lexington.
Cunningham, 27, says he has never missed an opportunity to vote since turning 18. During his schooling, his temporary residences have included Vanderbilt University (1992), American University (summer of 1993), UNC-Chapel Hill (1993-96), London School of Economics (1996) and UNC law school (1997-99).
Cunningham said he returned home to Lexington after graduating from law school in December 1999 to study for his bar examination. He also noted that he worked in Davidson County on school breaks, summers and holidays.
"I'm very disappointed because he is an attorney and there's evidence that he knew about this (residency requirement)
before," Keadle said. "... I think Cunningham should take caution in how he answers these
questions."
Asked why he waited until now to question Cunningham's residency, Keadle said other people had discussed it with him but he wanted to make sure of the facts.
Meanwhile, Cunningham continued with his campaign chores. He campaigned in Salisbury most of Friday. Today, he attended a breakfast meeting in Harmony, the Steamfest parade in Spencer and the N.C. Young Democrats meeting in Charlotte.
"We will not miss a beat because this is not an issue," Cunningham said.
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