The Tennessee Court of Appeals has declined to hear an appeal by the state Democratic Party that tries to keep Republican Robin Smith off the House District 26 ballot.
The Appeals Court said the matter is moot since the deadline has passed to mail out all military and overseas ballots.
The party had claimed Ms. Smith should not be on the ballot on the basis that longtime state Rep.
Gerald McCormick's late withdrawal was invalid.
Ms. Smith said after the ruling, “I appreciate that the Court of Appeals issued their ruling denying the Democrat’s motion in a timely manner, removing any doubt before the November election that I am the Republican nominee in District 26 and that legally cast votes will be counted.
"As I have said from the beginning, I have had every confidence in our courts to correctly see these efforts by the Tennessee Democrat Party and House Democrat Caucus Chair Mike Stewart as a blatant attempt to silence District 26 voters so they can steal a Republican-held seat in the State House.
"With this third denial by a Tennessee Court, I call upon Rep. Stewart and Democrat Party Chairman Mary Mancini to put an end to their campaign of disenfranchising voters and wasting taxpayer money on unnecessary legal fees. Let us now contest this seat as we should – on ideas and with ballots – without interference from Nashville liberals.
"Our campaign has not been distracted by these political stunts, so we will continue to run an aggressive effort to win the support of every District 26 voter in November."