Elaine Brown wins motion in election contest
Brunswick, GA – On Dec. 1, the Glynn County Superior Court heard the Contest of Election filed by mayoral candidate Elaine Brown and granted Brown’s motion to continue. The hearing is now scheduled for Dec.19 at 9:30 a.m.
The grounds Brown raised in her contest included fraud and misconduct in the Nov. 8 Brunswick municipal election. She also raised that Bryan Thompson, the mayor-elect, is not eligible to take office. Brown asserts that Thompson’s position as CEO and president of Blueprint Brunswick, Inc., is “incompatible” and a conflict of interest with his being mayor of Brunswick. Indeed, Blueprint Brunswick (a development corporation trying to gentrify the city) is seen by many as a ‘shadow’ government of the city of Brunswick.
Despite the vigorous objections made by Thompson’s attorney, Austin Catts, who is also a member of the Board of Blueprint Brunswick, and City Attorney Lynn Frey, representing the Glynn County Board of Elections, Judge Tom Pope granted Brown’s motion to continue, based on, among other issues, Superior Court Clerk Lola Jamsky’s failure to give proper notice of the hearing to all parties, including the other two mayoral candidates, Betsy Bean and Otis Herrington. Bean and Herrington asserted their intention to pursue their interests arising in Brown’s Contest.
Pope also granted the motion to continue filed by Rev. Zack Lyde on his Contest of the Election, and Lyde’s hearing date was also continued to Dec.19.
In the meantime, Elaine Brown has other legal challenges pending in her effort to address the gross misconduct in Brunswick’s municipal election.
Brown is a former leader of the Black Panther Party and her candidacy for mayor was a direct challenge to Brunswick’s white elite.