An appeals court judge has ordered all parties in the Gabriela Mosquera case to Trenton, where Mosquera’s request for emergencty relief will be heard at 12:30.
Mosquera is seeking to overturn a Superior Court judge’s ruling that she was inelegible to run for Assembly because she did not meet the residency requirement. Mosquera hopes to have the case overturned in time for tomorrow’s swearing in of new Assembly members.
The 4th District Democrat won election to the Assembly in November, but her opponent later challenged those results in court. Judge George Leone ruled last week that because Mosquera had not lived in the district for the required one year, and threw out the election results. Leone ruled that Democrats could fill the spot temporarily, but the person would be forced to run in a special election in November.
Mosquera is basing her appeal on a decade-old federal court decision that ruled the residency requirement unconstitutional. In his opinion, Leone ruled the District Court had erred, saying the requirement has been upheld for legislative candidates in other states.
