Miss. State Democratic Party v. Hickingbottom

361 So.3d 667

The MISSISSIPPI STATE DEMOCRATIC PARTY v. Bob HICKINGBOTTOM

NO. 2023-EC-00611-SCT

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

June 8, 2023

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: GERALD A. MUMFORD, Jackson

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE: JOHN R. REEVES

EN BANC.

CHAMBERLIN, JUSTICE, FOR THE COURT:

¶1. This case tasks the Court with determining whether a petition for judicial review was time barred. Because Bob Hickingbottom appealed the decision of the Democratic Party Executive Committee (DEC) to disqualify him as a candidate for governor pursuant to Mississippi Code Section 23-15-961 (Rev. 2018)—which provides the exclusive procedure for such an appeal—this Court finds that Hickingbottom's petition for judicial review was untimely filed and, therefore, his petition for judicial review was time barred.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶2. On February 1, 2023, Hickingbottom filed a Qualifying Statement of Intent, declaring his candidacy to be the Democratic Party's nominee for governor. On February 10, 2023, Jim Newman sent a letter to the DEC. The letter challenged Hickingbottom's qualifications as a candidate for the office of governor. Specifically, Newman's letter claimed that when running on the Constitution Party ticket in the 2019 gubernatorial election, Hickingbottom failed to file a statement of organization in violation of Mississippi Code Section 23-15-803 (Rev. 2018) and a statement of economic interest in violation of Mississippi Code Section 25-4-25 (Rev. 2018). On February 13, 2023, Tyree Irving, the chairman of the DEC, emailed Hickingbottom to notify him of Newman's letter and to inform him that a hearing via Zoom would be conducted on February 14, 2023, to address Newman's challenges. Then on February 14, 2023, the hearing was rescheduled to February 16, 2023, "to consider the challenges to the qualifications of several of the candidates running."

¶3. At the Zoom hearing on February 16, 2023, Hickingbottom was present and was given an opportunity to be heard by the DEC and to rebut Newman's challenges to his qualifications. On February 17, 2023, Andre Wagner, the executive director of the DEC, emailed Hickingbottom to notify him that the DEC had voted and decided not to certify Hickingbottom because "[s]adly, [he] did not meet the statutory requirements[.]"

¶4. On March 15, 2023, counsel for Hickingbottom sent a letter to the DEC, addressed to Chairman Irving. The letter requested that the DEC reconsider its decision to disqualify Hickingbottom. In the alternative, Hickingbottom's counsel requested that a hearing be conducted pursuant to Mississippi Code Section 23-15-299 (Supp. 2022). Finally, Hickingbottom's counsel stated that if the DEC "fail[ed] to take appropriate action to certify Bob Hickingbottom as a candidate ..., a Petition for Judicial Review will be filed in the Circuit Court of Hinds County[.]" True to his word, Hickingbottom filed a Petition to Contest and Overturn the Mississippi State Democratic Executive Committee's Disqualification of Bob Hickingbottom for the Candidacy of Governor on May 3, 2023. The petition was filed "pursuant to Miss. Code Ann. § 23-15-961 and 23-15-299." Additionally, Hickingbottom posted a cost bond of $300 on May 5, 2023.

¶5. On May 8, 2023, the DEC filed a motion for summary judgment. On May 10, 2023, an Agreed Order Setting Trial for May 26, 2023, was entered by the special judge appointed to oversee the case pursuant to Mississippi Code Section 23-15-961(5) (Rev. 2018). The DEC filed a response and answer to Hickingbottom's petition and a motion for judgment on the pleadings or, in the alternative, summary judgment based on the doctrine of laches. On May 26, 2023, the hearing was conducted on all of the motions, and the court ordered that Hickingbottom's name was to be placed on the ballot as a qualified candidate. Specifically, the court found that (1) the challenges to Hickingbottom's qualifications were not grounds for disqualification, (2) Newman's petition was facially invalid because it did not challenge Hickingbottom's qualifications as enumerated in article 5 of the Mississippi Constitution, (3) the DEC's notice to Hickingbottom that he was disqualified was "deficient in due process, invalid and improper," and (4) Hickingbottom's delay in filing a petition for judicial review did not outweigh his "right of ballot access in this case[.]" The court also noted that there was no factual dispute, only disputes concerning the law and its application. The DEC filed this appeal of the order to place Hickingbottom on the ballot.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶6. "[I]n a candidate qualification challenge, the standard of review for questions of law is de novo ." Simmons v. Town of Goodman , 346 So. 3d 847, 850 (Miss. 2022) (internal quotation marks omitted) (quoting Hale v. State Democratic Exec. Comm. , 168 So. 3d 946, 951 (Miss. 2015) ). "Matters of statutory interpretation also are reviewed by this Court using a de novo standard." Chandler v. McKee , 202 So. 3d 1269, 1271 (Miss. 2016) (citing Wallace v. Town of Raleigh , 815 So. 2d 1203, 1206 (Miss. 2002) ).

DISCUSSION

¶7. The DEC raises several issues on appeal. We only address the DEC's issue regarding the timeliness of Hickingbottom's petition for judicial review since it is dispositive. Section 23-15-961 exclusively governs the procedure for challenging the qualifications of a candidate in a political party's primary election prior to the primary election. In order to challenge a candidate's qualifications, an individual must file a petition that specifically sets forth the grounds for the challenge(s) within ten days after the qualifying deadline. Miss. Code Ann. § 23-15-961(1) (Rev. 2018). Once that petition is received by the political party's executive committee, it has ten days to rule on it or the petition is deemed denied. Miss. Code Ann. § 23-15-961(2) - (3) (Rev. 2018). The executive committee must give at least two days’ notice to the petitioner and the contested candidate of the time and place of the hearing on the petition. Miss. Code Ann. § 23-15-961(2).

¶8. Following the executive committee's ruling—or lack thereof—on the petition, "[a]ny party aggrieved by the action or inaction ... may file a petition for judicial review in the circuit court[.]" Miss. Code Ann. § 23-15-961(4) (Rev. 2018). "The petition [for judicial review] must be filed no later than fifteen (15) days after the date the petition was originally filed with the appropriate executive committee." Id. (emphasis added). When filing for judicial review, the aggrieved party shall post a cost bond of $300. Id. Once the petition has been filed and the cost bond posted, a special judge is appointed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court to oversee the case in a de novo review, without a jury. Miss. Code Ann. § 23-15-961(5) (Rev. 2018). If either party wishes to appeal the order of the specially appointed judge deciding whether to place the candidate on the ballot, they must file their appeal to this Court within three days of the entry of the order. Miss. Code Ann. § 23-15-961(6) (Rev. 2018). Finally, Section 23-15-961(7) mandates that this procedure "shall be the sole and only manner in which the qualifications of a candidate ... may be challenged prior to the time of his [or her] nomination or election." Miss. Code Ann. § 23-15-961(7) (Rev. 2018).

¶9. Hickingbottom filed his statement of intent to run for governor on February 1, 2023, the final day to qualify for the Democratic primary election to be held on August 8, 2023. Nine days later, on February 10, 2023, Jim Newman timely filed his petition with the DEC challenging Hickingbottom's qualifications to run as a candidate in the primary in accordance with Section 23-15-961(1). On February 14, 2023, the DEC timely notified Hickingbottom via email of a hearing on Newman's petition to take place two days later, on February 16, 2023. At the hearing, Hickingbottom was present and was given an opportunity to defend his qualifications against Newman's challenges. On February 17, 2023, seven days after Newman's petition was filed, Hickingbottom was informed by the DEC that it had voted not to certify him because he did not meet the statutory requirements. On May 3, 2023—eighty-two days after Newman's original petition was filed with the DEC and seventy-five days after the DEC informed Hickingbottom that he was not certified as a candidate—Hickingbottom filed his petition for judicial review in the Hinds County Circuit Court, "pursuant to Miss. Code Ann. § 23-15-961 and 23-15-299." Hickingbottom posted a $300 cost bond along with his petition in accordance with Section 23-15-961(4). Furthermore, Hickingbottom's petition to the circuit court stated that "[t]his Court has jurisdiction to hear this case and venue is proper in the First Judicial District of Hinds County Mississippi, pursuant to Miss. Code Ann. § 23-15-961 and 23-15-299."

¶10. "Election contests are a statutory remedy." Andreacchio v. Coleman , 322 So. 3d 441, 445 (Miss. 2021) (citing Pradat v. Ramsey , 47 Miss. 24, 32 (1872) ). Section 23-15-961 provides the sole procedure and remedy for challenging a candidate's qualifications prior to a primary election, for appealing an unfavorable action or inaction by the political party's executive committee to the circuit court and, finally, for appealing the circuit court's order to this Court. Miss. Code Ann. § 23-15-961(7). Hickingbottom filed his petition for judicial review in the circuit court specifically under Section 23-15-961. While Hickingbottom complied with the cost bond portion of Section 23-15-961(4), he blatantly failed to comply with the timeliness mandate contained in Section 23-15-961(4) and further failed to give either this Court or the circuit court any grounds whatsoever to possibly warrant an excuse for his excessive untimeliness.

¶11. To escape the mandated fifteen-day time period under Section 23-15-961(4), Hickingbottom argues that the DEC made its decision not to...