Rob Maness Qualifies for Senate Race, Questions Sen. Landrieu's Eligibility

8/23/2014

BATON ROUGE, LA (KTVE/KARD) -- On the final day of qualifying, another Republican candidate for U.S. Senate signed on the dotted line and qualified for the race.

Republican candidate and retired Air Force Colonel Rob Maness qualified at the Secretary of State's Office just before 11 a.m. on Friday.

A crowd of supporters gathered at the office to cheer Maness on as he qualified.

Maness told KTVE/KARD he will be a candidate who upholds the Constitution in office.

He promises to protect local veterans by fighting to dismantle the Department of Veterans Affairs and absorbing it into the Department of Defense, abolishing the VA medical system and giving veterans a medical identification card that can be given to multiple care providers.

Maness said he will fight Common Core, fight to dismantle the Department of Education and distribute that funding in block grants to states so they can make their own decisions on education.

On Friday, Maness also challenged the candidacy of one of his opponents, Democratic Incumbent Senator Mary Landrieu.

The Maness campaign presented a letter to the Secretary of State's Office challenging Landrieu's residency, claiming she doesn't currently live in Louisiana but in Washington, D.C. and by state law can't run for reelection.

Officials with the Secretary of State's Office told KTVE/KARD their office is not the proper venue to submit such a claim.

According to Louisiana Election Code Revised Statutes Subpart D, Section 491: "A registered voter may present evidence that a candidate has illegally qualified for elective office. The evidence may be presented to the respective parish district attorney, who shall determine whether or not the evidence presented establishes grounds for objecting to such candidacy and if the district attorney makes such a determination he shall file an action objecting to candidacy within the time limitation provided in R.S. 18:493."

Election officials also said Maness could file an Objection to Candidacy himself.

On Friday, the Maness campaign could not confirm if or when anything further would be filed.

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