A Lancaster County District Court judge ruled Wednesday that state Sen. Adam Morfeld can remain on the May 10 primary ballot as a Lancaster County attorney candidate, though state and local GOP officials could appeal the decision.
If the GOP plans to appeal, it would need to happen quickly: State law requires a decision reversing the election commissioner’s finding by March 16.
Judge Kevin McManaman denied the GOP appeal of the Lancaster County Election Commissioner's decision that found Morfeld met the statutory requirements to be on the ballot.
Morfeld said in a statement that the court affirmed "what is plainly obvious to everyone in the community: I am an actively practicing attorney engaged in the practice of law in multiple ways. Lancaster County voters have the constitutional right and deserve to vote for the candidate of their choice for county attorney."
The state and local GOP filed an objection with the election commissioner arguing that Morfeld doesn’t meet the statutory requirement that he has “actively practiced law†for at least the last two years. Election Commissioner Dave Shively denied the objection and said Morfeld could be on the ballot.
That led to the district court lawsuit, and attorneys for both sides argued in court last week just how strictly “actively practicing law†should be defined.
McManaman found that attorneys representing the GOP did not carry their burden of showing Morfeld “has not practiced law in a constant, daily or routine manner.â€
At issue was whether Morfeld’s work as executive director of his nonprofit Civic Nebraska, as co-chair of a group trying to get the medical marijuana issue on the ballot and as a member of the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee fits the statutory requirement.
Morfeld’s attorney Andre Barry argued the definition should be liberally interpreted and that the GOP couldn’t overcome the high bar set to remove someone from the ballot.
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GOP attorney David Lopez pointed to attorney practice and bar admission rules enacted by the Supreme Court and said Morfeld didn’t meet any of the ways those rules defined being “substantially engaged in the practice of law.â€
McManaman found that both those rules and others cited by Morfeld's attorney were not relevant because they were written decades after the statute was enacted.
He also noted that the Supreme Court has defined the practice of law broadly, which encompass Morfeld's legal advice to his nonprofit, to individual voters and as co-sponsor on ballot initiatives.
The legislative history of the law, in which the senator introducing the bill said it was important the county attorney have "some experience" is noteworthy, McManaman wrote.
"Here the candidate has some experience," the ruling said. "Whether he should be the next county attorney is therefore for the voters to decide."
Morfeld is challenging incumbent Pat Condon, a Republican and longtime deputy county attorney appointed to replace Joe Kelly when he became U.S. Attorney for Nebraska. Condon ran unopposed in 2018.