Florida Dems File Lawsuit To Remove Registered Independent Bernie from Primary Ballot
Two Florida Democrats asked a judge this week to disqualify Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders from competing in the state’s Democratic primary next month, arguing that Sanders does not belong on the ballot because he is an independent.
The Tallahassee Democrat reported that two men, Frank Bach and George Brown, filed a lawsuit in the Florida Panhandle’s Leon County asking that votes for Sanders be nullified, as it is too late to remove him from the ballot.
The lawsuit comes as Sanders has emerged as the front-runner to grab the Democratic Party’s nomination, a fact that has sobered some establishment and moderate Democrats in recent weeks.
With Sanders seemingly poised to become the nominee — despite spending his congressional career as an independent — establishment Democrats are attempting to slow his momentum.
But attorney Karen Gievers, a retired Florida judge who’s representing the two men (and is married to Bach), claims that’s not what this suit is about.
“Their concern is that there not be someone running as a Democrat who isn’t because that’s messing up their vote,” she told the Tallahassee Democrat.
While Sanders filed to run as a Democrat for president, he also filed last year as to run for re-election to the Senate in 2024 as an independent, which makes sense, considering he is listed as an “independent” on the U.S. Senate website.
Bach and Brown argue in their complaint that Sanders’ participation in the party’s closed Florida primary is “unlawful.”
“The plaintiffs have the right to cast their March 17 Democratic presidential preference primary votes for those who are really Democrats, not independents, and are entitled to this court’s protection of their right to vote for a Democrat, with the results not diluted by Defendant Sanders’ unlawful participation as an independent interloping improperly in the [primary],” the complaint reads.
“Defendant Sanders is clearly an independent and is clearly not a Democrat, by his own definition,” the complaint adds. “His current ‘day job’ is as a United States senator and he has consistently, proudly asserted his service in that role as independent.”
Executive director of the Florida Democratic Party Juan Peñalosa told the Tallahassee Democrat the lawsuit is “ridiculous.”
“The Florida Democratic Party Executive Committee voted unanimously to place Sen. Sanders on the Florida ballot,” Peñalosa said. “Votes cast for the senator are valid and must be counted.”
Gievers said the lawsuit seeks to block Florida Secretary of State Laurel Lee from certifying any votes for Sanders, as well as prevent the Democratic Party from awarding him any delegates.
Lee is listed as a defendant, along with the Florida Democratic Party, the Democratic National Committee and Sanders.
While Gievers claims the lawsuit was not motivated by Sanders’ far-left positions, it’s worth noting that as a self-avowed “democratic socialist,” he has come under increasing scrutiny from establishment Democrats in recent weeks for his extreme positions and their price tag.
During Tuesday night’s debate in South Carolina, Sanders was relentlessly attacked by his rivals on the stage.
Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar went after Sanders particularly hard, attacking his agenda for being too expensive.
Klobuchar claimed Sanders’ radical plans would cost “nearly $60 trillion.”
“That is three times the American economy. Not the federal government, the entire American economy,” she barked at Sanders.
“The Medicare-for-All plan alone … clearly says that it will kick 149 million Americans off their current health insurance in four years.”
Other candidates also attacked Sanders’ socialist agenda in desperate attempts to dethrone the front-runner — who many moderate Democrats worry is unelectable.
Democrats, who have been flirting with socialism for years, only have themselves to blame for Sanders’ rise within their ranks.
The party fostered an environment that embraced a man who once said he did not mind being called “a communist,” according to the Washington Examiner.
They have made their bed, and now they are scrambling to not have to sleep in it.
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