Dems use ignored rule to oust gay candidate

But the attorney for Childress, Raymond Johnson, said Todd should instead be disqualified for violating a 1974 Democratic Party rule that requires Democratic candidates to file financial disclosure statements with the party chairman five days before the election. Democratic Party executive director Jim Spearman testified that as far as he knew, no Democratic candidate had filed a disclosure statement with the chairman since 1988, when the state law requiring financial disclosure was passed.

Spearman said no candidate this year, including Todd or Hendricks, had filed the disclosure form with the chairman.

But Johnson said Todd should be disqualified for violating the rule because the challenge was filed against her and not against Hendricks.

"No direction has been given to candidates telling them not to file that report," Johnson said.

Hendricks said after the hearing that she believes the outcome of the election would have been different if voters had known the source of some of Todd's campaign funds.

"If her disclosure form had been filed on time the public would have had that information to make a decision on," Hendricks said.

‘If I was black I don't think they would have contested’
Todd said she believes the challenge has nothing to do with the fact she is gay, but is about the fact that she is white and won in a majority black district.

"Of course if I was black I don't think they would have contested the election," Todd said. She blamed the contest on Joe Reed, longtime chairman of the black Democratic caucus, who wrote a letter before the election urging black leaders to support Hendricks because of her race and stressing the need for keeping the seat in black hands.

Segall also alluded to Reed's influence in his closing statement to the committee.

"This is about race. Folks are upset that a white woman won in a black district. There are some times you just have to say 'this isn't right,'" Segal said.

Contacted after the hearing, Reed said he was not responsible for filing the election challenge, but he said he believes Todd should be disqualified for violating the party rule.

"The rule requires everybody to file it. The rule doesn't exclude anyone from filing it," Reed said.

He said Todd should be punished for not following the rule, because the challenge was filed against her and not against other candidates.

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