James Butler asks court to compel his inclusion in D.C. mayoral debate – The Washington Post

D.C. mayoral candidate James Butler is asking local courts to allow him to be included in a planned debate Wednesday night that will feature the other three Democratic contenders for mayor, arguing that he was unfairly excluded.

The event’s organizers, Georgetown University and Fox 5 DC, have said Butler, a disbarred lawyer and former advisory neighborhood commissioner who is running on a tough-on-crime platform, was ineligible to appear in the televised debate because he did not meet the criteria they established. Candidates either had to be participants in the city’s public financing program, secure 1,000 campaign donations or “poll at 3 percent or greater in an independent public poll” sponsored by a news organization.

Butler is the only mayoral candidate not using public financing, was not included in a February Washington Post poll about the race, and has not collected 1,000 donations.

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On Friday, Butler filed a motion in D.C. Superior Court in an attempt to postpone the debate, in part arguing that he met the polling criteria in a Washington Informer Twitter survey on May 2, in which 41 percent of the 161 respondents said they would vote for Butler. He argues that the Twitter survey counts because Georgetown’s criteria did not specify how the polling needed to be conducted, although a university official told Butler later that day that Twitter polls do not meet that standard, according to court filings.

“This is a fight for free information for the people and voters of the District of Columbia,” Butler said at a news conference he held Tuesday. “They have a right to know who is on the ballot.”

Georgetown has filed to dismiss the case. Georgetown University spokesperson Ruth McBain said in a statement Tuesday that the requirements for the debate were announced in February and that only three candidates met the requirements: Mayor Muriel E. Bowser and council members Robert C. White Jr. and Trayon White Sr., all of whom have outraised Butler.

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Lawyers for Georgetown in response to Butler’s filing said his request for the courts to intervene via a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction “fail to identify a precise cause of action against Georgetown and are legally deficient.” They moved to place Butler’s complaint in U.S. District Court instead of D.C. Superior Court because he invoked a federal equal opportunity law.

“[Butler] has a law degree and practiced for years before being disbarred,” lawyers for Georgetown wrote in a request to dismiss the case. “He should have been well aware of the need to plead a cause of action.”

The court has scheduled a preliminary hearing in the case for 11 a.m. Wednesday.

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