Alabama State Auditor Jim Zeigler on Sunday filed a lawsuit seeking an election to replace former U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions as soon as possible, rather than in November 2018, the date Gov. Robert Bentley has set. Sessions resigned Feb. 14 when he was confirmed as U.S. Attorney General in the Trump Administration. Bentley appointed former Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange to take Sessions’ former senate seat. “Rather than being able to vote for a replacement U.S. Senator in a timely manner, they (plaintiffs) must suffer a Bentley appointee to hold the seat for nearly two more years,” according to the lawsuit filed Sunday in the state online court system.
“As aggrieved voters and based on the facts stated in (state law), plaintiffs have a cause of action for declaratory and injunctive relief to compel Governor Bentley to follow Alabama law.”
The lawsuit seeks a declaration by Montgomery Circuit Judge J.R. Gaines, who has been assigned to the case, to declare state law requires an election to be set “as expeditiously as possible” to fill Sessions seat and an order requiring Bentley to set one.
Bentley’s Chief Legal Adviser David Byrne issued a statement Monday afternoon in response to Auditor Zeigler’s latest lawsuit.
Full Article: State Auditor files lawsuit seeking election ASAP for Jeff Sessions’ old senate seat | AL.com.