May 16, 2022–7:22 a.m.

WBHF RADIO

One of the candidates in the Republican Primary for Georgia State Senate in District 52 is being disqualified.

Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has moved to disqualify District 52 State Senate candidate Jeff Lewis from the race.

The decision came less than 24 hours after Georgia Administrative Court Judge Charles R Beaudrot recommended Lewis’s candidacy be invalidated. Beaudrot wrote that Lewis had not made the correct filings with respect to his campaign finances by the required deadline, and the Secretary of State’s office upheld the decision.

On Friday afternoon, Lewis told WBHF in Cartersville his legal team was already working on an appeal.

“Obviously, we disagree with that decision and we have an appeal filed to the Fulton County Superior Court where these matters are generally heard,” Lewis said during a phone call.  “I feel very confident in the appeal process because, in that venue, my lawyers can argue the constitutionality of the case and also present where this matter has been resolved and corrected. So we feel very confident that, when the judges hear that argument of constitutionality and that we have provided correction, they will rule in our favor.”

Ballots are preserved for 22 months in case court battles continue, and notices will be erected at polling places to alert voters of the ballot change. If Lewis’s disqualification sticks, no votes cast in his favor will be counted.