Republican John Ley again is defending his right to run for office in the 18th Legislative District.
Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey convened a hearing Thursday to listen to arguments from Ley and a man who submitted a challenge last month over Ley’s ability to run in the current election.
Ley wasn’t present at the hearing but was represented instead by his lawyer Angus Lee, a Vancouver-based attorney.
Ley is facing Democrat John Zingale in November’s race for House Position 2 in the 18th Legislative District. Ley won 38.5 percent of the primary vote in August, beating out fellow Republican Philip Johnson.
“There just is not sufficient evidence,” Lee said during Thursday’s meeting, adding that it’s the challenger’s job to prove a voter registration isn’t accurate.
Lee said the challenge, brought by 18th District resident Geoff Munson, was politically motivated.
Munson said in the hearing he is affiliated with a Democratic organization, but he brought the case as a concerned citizen of the district.
Ley owns a home in Camas, formerly part of the 18th District, but maintains that it is being rented out and that he lives permanently at his Hazel Dell apartment.
“He’s provided no evidence that he’s actually renting (out the Camas house), not an agreement with redacted names or any kind of income from that,” Munson said.
Lee said providing that information would violate the renter’s privacy.
Munson argued that on multiple visits to Ley’s Camas home, cars, political signs and packages on the porch showed evidence of someone living there. However, Munson said, he saw flyers piled up at the Hazel Dell apartment but no evidence that anyone lived there. Munson said he sent certified mail to both homes and only the letter sent to the Camas home was signed as received.
Lee maintained that the letter at the Camas home was signed by the renter and that Ley eventually received the letter sent to the Hazel Dell apartment at the post office.
Munson also said he saw no evidence of furnishings at the Hazel Dell home, although Lee submitted photos the night before the hearing of the apartment’s furnishings.
Kimsey asked Lee — as his client wasn’t present — to estimate the number of nights that Ley slept at his Hazel Dell home. Lee said based on his client’s statement that he would assume he slept there regularly.
Kimsey also asked where Ley’s phone would indicate he spends his time. Lee said he assumed, again based on his client’s statement, his phone would indicate that Ley has an active lifestyle but would show he sleeps at his Hazel Dell home.
Kimsey then asked Lee why Ley’s submitted electric bills showed his apartment’s usage was consistently below average from January through August.
Lee maintained that Ley is a single man who is frugal and simply opened a window when it was hot and put on a sweater when it was cold. (Vancouver’s January storm brought record low temperatures.)
Lee said Kimsey’s questions were beyond what Munson’s challenge brought forth. He also asked Munson whether he talked with neighbors in either location or the occupant of the Camas home. Munson replied that he didn’t.
Lee said in a response to the challenge that Ley’s credit card and driver’s license are both registered at the Hazel Dell address, as is his voter registration.
Munson said that Ley had multiple businesses registered at his Camas home. But Lee argued one business was registered to the Hazel Dell address, and Ley was working to change the addresses for the others.
Ley is also fighting felony election fraud charges related to an unsuccessful 2022 run for a seat in the same district.
He is accused of providing false information for voter registration and on a declaration of candidacy. He pleaded not guilty in Clark County Superior Court in November. His trial was set for April, but it was rescheduled for later this month.
The case originates from a previous challenge alleging Ley didn’t live in the 18th District where he was running for office. After the case was taken to court, Superior Court Judge David Gregerson ruled Ley wasn’t an eligible candidate.
Kimsey didn’t rule on Munson’s challenge during the hearing, but he said he will “at some point in the future.”
