Judge rules to deny Corderman's petition against Democrat candidate in Maryland primary
After facing a challenge to his candidacy, Democratic candidate Shawn Demetrious Perry will be on the ballot for the primary election for the upcoming 2022 Maryland Gubernatorial Election.
In her memorandum opinion on May 27, Washington County Circuit Court Judge Dana Moylan Wright wrote that Perry, "by the skin of his teeth," took necessary actions to change his residency to an address inside of the district in which he is running — Maryland's Senate District 2.
After filing a petition May 17 questioning Perry's residency and candidacy for the nomination of the Democratic Party, Sen. Paul Corderman, R-Washington, said in a news release that while he respects the court's decision, he disagrees with the outcome.
"We will decide on our next step in this process within the coming days," Corderman said.
In a previous report, state Attorney General representative James Lewis said that a ruling could cause an appeal and urged the two parties, if they choose to do so, appeal immediately to make sure there is less confusion for the upcoming election.
In a news release, Perry said that he was prepared to accept the court's decision, no matter the outcome.
"One of my goals in running for the Maryland State Senator District 2 seat is to help restore confidence in the government that serves us," he said. "This ruling allows for the people to choose their representative rather than having them be appointed by others."
Questions of residency
Corderman's petition alleged that Perry did not live within District 2, which Corderman represents, and was misleading to authorities in saying that he did.
Candidates running for a state Senate district seat must be a voter in that district, according to state law.
In documents filed in Washington County Circuit Court, Cordeman asked the court to disqualify Perry from the ballot in the upcoming primary election, scheduled for July 19. Early voting starts July 7.
Corderman is the lone Republican and Perry is the lone Democrat running for their parties' nominations in the primary, meaning they both would likely move on to challenge each other in the Nov. 8 general election, barring a successful write-in campaign.
The address in question was Perry's house on Garnette Avenue in the Maugansville area. The address was in District 2 before the new legislative district map was enacted. The new map moved the address into District 1.
Perry had filed to run for the seat on March 18, after the Court of Appeals issued an order extending the candidacy filing deadline to April 15. In that filing, Perry listed his house on Garnette Avenue as his residence.
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The Maryland State Board of Elections issued, and had Perry sign, his "State of Maryland-Certificate of Candidacy," which listed his residence as Garnette Avenue and listed the race for Senatorial District 2. The certificate included the language "under the penalty of perjury."
However, during his testimony on May 26, Perry said he believed he was still in District 2 as he was still receiving news letters from his former representatives in District 2A — Republican Dels. Bill Wivell and Neil Parrott. He added that he found the redistricting issues to be "very confusing" and wasn't aware of the changes to his address on Garnette Avenue.
Perry also stated during his testimony that the state Board of Elections verified and accepted his certificate, which also led him to believe he lived in District 2.
On May 2, Perry said he was notified by the state Elections Board that he would not be on the ballot for District 2 due to the recent legislative district map changes.
A few days later — May 5 — he changed his voter registration, listing a new address on Wayne Avenue, which is in District 2, according to the new legislative map.
Perry shared spaces with fiancée
Perry testified that he and his fiancée, Donna Nave, had been dating since 2017 and would share their homes with one another — Perry's house on Garnette Avenue and Nave's house on Wayne Avenue in Hagerstown.
The plan was always for him and Nave to move in together, according to Perry. The districting issue accelerated this plan.
On April 13, the Court of Appeals had upheld the legislative district map passed in January, after facing legal challenges from Republican lawmakers contending that it violated the state constitution by crossing county borders and diluting Republican votes.
The court also issued an order stating that "a candidate for senator or delegate must reside in the district that the candidate seeks to represent for at lease six months preceding the date of the statewide general election. For the 2022 statewide general election, a candidate must take up residence in a new district by May 8, 2022."
Perry had changed his residence to the Wayne Avenue address three days before this new deadline, according to court documents.
He added during his testimony that although he still maintains his house on Garnette Avenue, he considers the Wayne Avenue address his residence, receiving mail and packages there.
Perry said that he had moved most of his clothes into the house at Wayne Avenue and had even done some remodeling in preparation for the move. He added that he plans to give the Garnette Avenue home to his son, who currently is in college.
'One domicile at a time'
Corderman's legal team, which included House Minority Leader Jason C. Buckel, argued that Perry cannot have two addresses, according to previous landmark cases.
According to Bainum v. Kalen, "although a person may have several places of abode or dwelling, he or she 'can have only one domicile at a time.'"
A domicile is defined as a place of residence.
However, in Blount v. Boston, the Court of Appeals explained that "the concept of domicile is somewhat elusive, and there is no single definition of the term which will mechanically determine each person's domicile once the pertinent facts are known."
The court also stated that "a person's statements of his or her intent as to domicile are admissible and should be considered."
Perry's legal team argued that since he had intended to move to the house on Wayne Avenue, that should be considered his domicile.
Buckel said during the May 26 hearing that there was no evidence that Perry intended to stay at the Wayne Avenue house. Corderman's legal team hired a private investigator, who surveilled Perry from May 14 to 17 and on May 20.
The private investigator found that Perry was in and out of both houses. However, Perry's legal team argued that nowhere in the private investigator's report did it show where Perry spent his nights.
Unusual circumstances
Buckel argued that regardless of whether Perry effectively changed his residence as of May 4, "it's a little too late."
He added that since Perry's certificate of candidacy dated March 18 listed his address on Garnette Avenue, he was ineligible to be a candidate in District 2.
"Under normal circumstances that conclusion may have carried the day," Wright wrote in her memorandum opinion. "However, with redistricting, some unusual circumstances have intervened and are salient to the outcome."
Corderman told The Herald-Mail in a telephone interview that issues regarding redistricting aren't something that "you'll see happen every election because, obviously, redistricting only happens every 10 years."
"And then within every 10 years, it would have to be during the time that there's a statewide election," he added. "So, it's probably more like every 20 years."
Corderman said that his petition highlighted not just his challenge against Perry, but that Maryland's election laws "need updating."
"Since election laws never got updated when the primary got moved to (July), and the filing deadline got pushed back (to April), we have this window of time … which we highlighted in court … where you can essentially file in one district and then change at the last minute," he said.
In his news release on May 27, Corderman said that he looks forward to being reelected and "returning to the state Senate so we can fix these loopholes that allow individuals to circumvent the residency requirements and misrepresent the constituents they claim to represent."
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Washington County Circuit Court judge denies Md. senator's petition
