Bice: Milwaukee Senate candidate could be bumped from ballot for using wrong nomination form

Will one of Milwaukee's most important state Senate races be over without a vote being cast this fall?

Two candidates — Reps. LaKeshia Myers and Dora Drake, both Milwaukee Democrats — filed nomination papers last week to run for the 4th District Senate seat in the August primary and November general election. The winner of the Democratic primary will represent the district because no Republican is running.

But records show that Drake collected most of her nearly 700 signatures on the wrong form.

Drake, who is in her second term in the state Assembly, had supporters sign the form for nonpartisan offices, such as judge, instead of the one for partisan positions, such as legislator. Her nomination papers did have the phrase "Democratic Party" typed on the form.

To run for state Senate, candidates have to submit between 400 and 800 valid signatures on the correct nomination form.

Sounds basic.

But, incredibly, the issue is not a new one.

According to Myers, Drake improperly used both the partisan and nonpartisan forms when collecting signatures to run in the special primary election on July 2 and special general election on July 30 to fill the same Senate seat.

Former Sen. Lena Taylor, a Milwaukee Democrat, left the position earlier this year when she was appointed as a judge to the Milwaukee County court by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers. He then announced a special election for July.

So there are two separate elections for the same post in the next few months, and Drake used the right form — at times — in the first one but not at all in the second one.

"This does not look good," said one election insider. "It's not something you can easily correct."

But Drake will be allowed to participate in the special election contest next month because no one challenged her nomination papers. The winner of that race serves out the rest of Taylor's term though the end of the year.

Drake wasn't so lucky the second time around.

Late last week, Myers filed a complaint with the state Elections Commission officially challenging Drake's nomination papers in the regular election. The winner of the regular elections wins a four-year term representing the north side Milwaukee district. Lawmakers make $57,408 annually.

"I believe the incorrect use of the nonpartisan form is a violation and may have caused confusion for those signing her nomination forms," Myers wrote. "I am challenging the header of Ms. Drake's Nov. 5, 2024, nomination papers, which I believe should result in declaring all signatures contained on nomination papers using that header to be invalid."

But Michael Maistelman, an attorney for Drake, said she had consulted with the Elections Commission staff and that no one had flagged this issue.

Maistelman argued that removing Drake from the ballot is too drastic a step.

"This is a ridiculous complaint and a waste of the Election Commission's time," Maistelman said in a statement. "By listing Democratic Party on the form, it clearly shows the intent, and it should be swiftly dismissed."

The Elections Commission is scheduled to meet at 10 a.m. Monday to consider all challenges to nomination papers and then vote to determine which candidates get to appear on the ballot this fall.

Contact Daniel Bice at (414) 313-6684 or [email protected]. Follow him on X at @DanielBice or on Facebook at fb.me/daniel.bice.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Senate candidate could be bumped for using wrong nomination form