By Tia Mitchell and Steve Bousquet, Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Friday, December 9, 2011
TALLAHASSEE — Former state Sen. Nancy Argenziano filed a lawsuit Friday challenging a new state law that prevents her from running for Congress as a Democrat.
Argenziano, 56, switched from the Republican Party to the Independent Party on June 3, but that was supposed to be temporary, she said. In August, she announced plans to run for the 2nd Congressional District seat as a Democrat but within days it became clear the state's new election law prohibits her from changing parties again.
"I wanted to get the heck out of the 'R' Party," she said Friday. "My conscience wouldn't allow me to stay there."
Her lawsuit targets the "disaffiliation" provision, which prevents a candidate from changing parties less than a year before the start of the weeklong qualifying period. Qualifying for 2012 congressional elections will be from June 4 to 8, 2012, so the cutoff was June 4 of this year.
Argenziano is asking the court to rule the provision unconstitutional because it bars her from seeking the Democratic nomination for the congressional seat or becoming affiliated with the Florida Democratic Party.
The election law, signed by Gov. Rick Scott on May 19, is the most controversial piece of legislation from the 2011 session. The provision Argenziano is challenging was largely overlooked and not debated publicly.
Secretary of State Kurt Browning is the defendant in her lawsuit filed in Leon County Circuit Court. Department of State spokesman Chris Cate said Argenziano dropped off a copy Friday morning. "We'll begin reviewing it soon," Cate said.
If she loses the lawsuit, Argenziano said she will continue to pursue the congressional seat as a member of the Independent Party.