Even before the announcement of the arrest of Senate Minority Leader Jeff Woodburn on domestic violence charges on Thursday, Democrats condemned the alleged behavior and demanded his immediate resignation.
But with the state primary election approaching, the actual steps the party can take to ensure Woodburn’s departure are less than clear. In a statement on Thursday, Woodburn vowed to contest the charges in court, which include four counts of simple assault and two of domestic violence.
He made no indication whether he would resign or end his campaign.
Absent Woodburn’s cooperation, the options for Democrats to put a new candidate on the ballot are narrow, according to Secretary of State Bill Gardner.
A specific New Hampshire law, RSA 655:30, prohibits candidates from withdrawing from the race after the June filing deadline in most scenarios. The exceptions: If the candidate dies or if the candidate becomes disqualified.
“Any person can be a candidate unless a person is no longer qualified,” Gardner said.
To be disqualified, a candidate must be found ineligible by either being declared physically or mentally incapacitated by a doctor, or by not meeting the age and domicile requirements to run in that district.
In Woodburn’s case, the only likely way off the ballot is through a change in domicile. In other words: Woodburn would have to move out of District 1. And that move would need to be voluntary.
“He can’t say he’s going to move — he would have to have moved,” Gardner said. “He would have to have registered to vote in a place that was not part of the senate district. And once that happened, he would be disqualified.”
With that cooperation, the party could swap out the candidate on the ballot within three days, according to RSA 655:38. Without it, organizers likely will have to field a write-in candidate.
A spokesperson for the party declined to comment on the party’s thinking. Woodburn doesn’t have a primary challenger, but if the party moves behind a write-in candidate, it likely will try to defeat Woodburn in the primary election in order to coalesce behind one contender before November.
For state senate Democrats, Thursday and Friday brought mounting calls from Republicans for the caucus to oust Woodburn as their leader and elect a new one, a process that usually is overseen by the state party after elections.
It was not clear whether Democratic senators — eight out of the remaining nine of whom have called on Woodburn to step down — would seek to do that; the senators were unavailable or declined comment.
As the political fallout from the arrest mounts, Woodburn could resign his position, but getting off the ballot is much trickier.