Politics & Government

State Senate Candidate Responds To Residency Question

Matt Laughridge says he's lived in District 14 for two years, despite voting last year at the Kingston precinct in District 52.

The state Senate candidate from Cartersville, whose qualification for the District 14 seat is in question, has issued a statement in response.

The Secretary of State's general counsel is looking into the possibility Matt Laughridge doesn't meet the residency requirement to qualify for the seat vacated by Barry Loudermilk, who is running for U.S. Congress.

Voting records show Laughridge cast a ballot at the Kingston precinct in District 52 in November 2012, and last month changed his address with the Bartow County Voter Registration and Elections office to a Peeples Valley Road home in District 14.

Laughridge issued Friday this statement:

Questions surrounding my qualifications for the 14th Senate District race are nothing more than a political ploy meant to distract voters from the real issues of this campaign.

There's an old adage that says, "Home is where you hang your hat," and Georgia state law agrees. In fact, it clearly states:

"The residence of any person shall be held to be in that place in which such person’s habitation is fixed, without any present intention of removing therefrom…”

The Attorney General's office has also written an opinion in agreement.

To clear this issue up once and for all, according to state law, my legal residence for nearly two years has sat squarely in the 14th District. I am renovating a home that also sits within the 14th District, and I look forward to representing my neighbors and friends in the 14th District as their State Senator in Atlanta.

Ironically, a few detractors to my campaign have also brought up the fact that I voted in 2012 at my former precinct. While this is just another distraction, the Georgia Court of Appeals has already addressed this issue, and I will let their ruling stand on its own.

That stated, my campaign has and will continue to be focused on economic growth, education, transportation and other issues important to the people of the 14th District. I look forward to discussing these issues with the voters in the coming weeks leading up to November 5th.


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