(Washington, DC, November 16, 2018) – Today, Sharon McGowan, Legal Director and Chief Strategy Officer of Lambda Legal, issued the following statement after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell invoked cloture on the nomination of Thomas Farr, Donald Trump’s nominee to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina:

“Lambda Legal condemns Senator McConnell’s decision to schedule a vote on Thomas Farr’s nomination in the wake of a midterm election plagued by voter suppression and attempts to undermine the voting rights of vulnerable minorities across the country. Thomas Farr has spent his career defending discriminatory voter ID laws that target African Americans ‘with almost surgical precision.’ Access to the ballot box should be open to all, regardless of race, sexual orientation, or gender identity. Thomas Farr’s attempts to infringe upon and thwart the right to vote for African Americans in North Carolina is a threat to everyone’s democracy. We urge each and every Senator to reject this nomination.”