Heard won't pursue court action in school board bid - WALB.com, Albany News, Weather, Sports

An Albany minister drops his lawsuit against the Dougherty County Board of Elections so he can focus on his write-in campaign.

Reverend Lorenzo Heard made the announcement Tuesday afternoon, surrounded by supporters in front of the school administration building.

"It was difficult, but after talking with a lot of supporters and talking with the staff, we discovered there was so many people that were confused," said Heard.

He plans to run as a write-in candidate for the at-large seat on the Dougherty County School Board against Lane Price. 

Heard was suing the board of elections, which ruled he did not properly qualify to run as an independent.

After hearing testimony a couple of weeks ago, Grady County Judge Richard Porter gave both sides an October 19th deadline to turn in written closing arguments along with legal documents. 

Heard was hoping the judge would rule in his favor and give him enough time to get his name on the ballot.  But time was not on his side. 

"We didn't want people to be confused. We felt that it would have been better if my name had been on the ballot, but since it's not we're going to play the hand that we're dealt," said Heard.

Heard says waiting for the judge's decision could have been detrimental to his campaign.  So he's turning his focus from the lawsuit to his campaign as a write-in candidate.

Heard's attorney Maurice King claimed the elections office made errors by not accepting his notice of candidacy and miscounting petition signatures.

But Ed Collier, the board of elections attorney says those documents were not in compliance with the law. 

Lane Price who is currently the only candidate for the at-large seat says it's been a campaign full of ups and downs, but she's carrying on as usual. "I'm still planning to be on the school board. It's been an interesting six months. I announced back in March and here we are 6 1/2 months later. I'm still absolutely delighted that I decided to run and I thank my supporters."

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