Missouri Supreme Court affirms decision to bar Curtis’ Senate bid

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The Missouri Supreme Court won’t be siding with Rep. Courtney Allen Curtis in his attempt to run as a Democrat in the 14th Senate District this fall.

The Court on Monday issued a decision, saying they would let the ruling by Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green stand, barring Curtis from running for the seat.

Judge Green had sided with the Missouri Democratic Party, which had blocked Curtis from the race to replace the term-limited Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal because he had not paid more than $114,000 in fines for violating several campaign finance laws. Curtis had sued to challenge the decision.

The court affirmed Judge Green’s decision, saying that although Curtis had shown that the party representative refused to accept the filing fee, he failed to establish that the party and its chair are public officials required to perform a ministerial duty. He also failed to establish that the secretary of state refused to perform a ministerial duty, and because Curtis admits he never attempted to pay his filing fee to the secretary of state’s office, the record shows the secretary of state never refused to accept his filing fee.

As such, the court ruled that he was not entitled to relief.