A judge has dismissed an attempt to have a House of Delegates candidate from Stafford County removed from this year’s election ballot.
Three Stafford voters recently petitioned the county’s Circuit Court to strike Stacey Carroll’s name, arguing she doesn’t actually live in the 64th House District where she is running for office.
However, Carroll, a Democrat who faces GOP Del. Paul Milde, wrote in an emailed statement Monday night that a judge ruled in her favor Oct. 17.
“I am grateful that the court recognized the facts and dismissed this baseless attempt to undermine the will of the voters of the 64th District,” Carroll wrote. “This lawsuit was nothing more than a failed political attempt to disenfranchise voters and deny them the opportunity to decide who is best suited to represent their community.”
The petition contended Carroll lives at a home in the 23rd House District while claiming a different address in neighboring District 64 to qualify to run against Milde.
Petitioners Stephen Edward Schwartz, Judith Anne Parker and Juliet McGee Schweiter alleged Carroll changed her registration Feb. 5 to an address on Pinkerton Court in District 64 but “continues to reside” on Bismark Drive in District 23. Del. Candi Mundon King (D-Prince William) represents that district, which includes parts of Stafford and Prince William counties.
The filing listed the Bismark Drive house as property Carroll has owned since 2018. It asked the court to cancel Carroll’s District 64 registration and direct state officials to decertify her candidacy and remove her from the ballot.
“Carroll is physically present at 71 Bismark Drive on a consistent basis,” the petition alleged, adding that her “primary vehicle, a white 2017 Cadillac Escalade, is consistently parked” at the Bismark Drive address “for significant periods of the day and overnight.”
The lawsuit named as respondents Stafford County General Registrar Anna Hash, the Virginia State Board of Elections, the Department of Elections and Carroll.
In her statement, Carroll thanked the judge for the ruling.
“With [the Oct. 17] decision, we are pushing forward and continuing to focus on what truly matters — meeting voters where they are and making the case for the strong, accountable leadership that Stafford deserves.”
(Information in this story originally appeared in Virginia Mercury and is being republished here with permission.)
