SMITHFIELD – Wednesday afternoon, the NC Board of Elections held an Emergency Meeting to hear a candidate residency challenge filed in the race for the Johnston County Board of Education.
School board member Ronald Johnson of Clayton filed a formal complaint on December 19, 2023 challenging the residency of one of his opponents, David Marshburn.
Johnson is seeking reelection to District 7. In the complaint, Johnson alleged Marshburn did not meet the statutory requirements of living in District 7, and claimed his primary residence was in District 5, and should not be allowed to run for office.
On January 10, 2024, the Johnston County Board of Elections held a lengthy hearing and voted 4-to-0 to deny Johnson’s petition to keep Marshburn off the March 5 primary ballot.
On January 16, 2024, Mr. Johnson appealed the ruling to the State Board of Elections in Raleigh. An Emergency Meeting of the State Board was held at 3:00pm today (Wednesday, January 17). After hearing from Mr. Johnson and Mr. Marshburn’s attorney, Jack O’Hale, the state board voted to uphold the decision of the Johnston County election board, allowing Marshburn to remain on the ballot.
Following the emergency meeting, attorney O’Hale told the Johnston County Report, “I think Ronald Johnson’s argument today were a rehash of what he presented to the Johnston County Board of Elections on January 10. I credit the State Board of Elections for following the law. It was obvious they had taken the time to watch the video from the January 10 hearing and not just consider what we presented today, but what was presented January 10.”
Mr. Johnson released a written statement to Johnston County Report after the meeting. It read, “I’m thankful all of these statements are under oath.”
Johnson has the option to appeal today’s NC Board of Election decision to the NC Court of Appeals.
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Related Documents:
Candidate Challenge Appeal – December 19, 2023
Candidate Challenge Appeal Amended – December 22, 2023
Johnston County Board of Elections Jan. 10, 2024 Decision
Johnson Appeal, Written Argument to NC Board of Elections
Marshburn Appeal, Written Argument to NC Board of Elections
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I thought Johnson said he respected the boards decisions. I think not….
Who is paying for all of this. Maybe someone needs to look into Johnson and who is backing him That could be some kind of campaign finance problem being he is running for election and fighting in court about the election. All of this should be under the finance law
Your 15 minutes are up RonJon
Re-Elect RonJon!
Columbo vs. Kojack rd.2
Ron little John just find a place to hide give up you have been know around here since your first lie
I agree Ron Johnson needs to go. David Marshburn is not the answer. He is a known fraud and is just looking for his entry in politics after his failed sheriff bid. He ripped off a friend of mine many years back when he was working as a contractor. His work as an unlicensed private investigator got him close to arrested in Tennessee where he could’ve ruined the chance of prosecution of murder suspects. He was only trying to be a hero and raise non profit cash he could benefit from personally. I could go on and on about Marshburn but hopefully he won’t make it into politics. His rants on Facebook about the situation show he still behaves like a child. The fact is he rented the house for the office and will not be residing there as a primary residence. He’ll probably write it off as expenses in one of his fraud businesses. Do a little research on the candidate and you will see he’s not good for public office or any office for that matter.
Our tax dollars at work, and way more so if he appeals to the NC Court of Appeals. Obviously terrified of actually having to run against someone for office, please stop wasting public money and time and get on with the campaign!
Ron needs to go. This guy has caused problems for far too long. How he has not been removed from this board after the censure, his arrest, his removal from the police force…we could go on…is a mystery and a tragedy. Hit the bricks. We are sure you aren’t here for the kids.
Marshburn literally said the reason why he moved there is so he could represent the district. Obviously he doesn’t plan on living there permanently.