- "Being nomadic and voting is one thing, being nomadic and a candidate in a party is another,” North Carolina State Board of Elections member Bob Rucho said Wednesday about disqualifying Republican US candidate Margot Dupre.
At a lengthy hearing on Wednesday, the North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE) voted 3-1 that a candidate in the state’s March 3 primary election cannot run on the Republican ticket in the US Senate race.
Republican board member Bob Rucho, Republican board member and Secretary Stacey “Four” Eggers IV, and Democratic board member Jeff Carmon voted 3-1 that Margot Dupre did not have a valid voter registration because it did not provide a physical residential address and only listed a UPS Store address. And it was argued that a person couldn’t reside there. Democratic board member Siobhan Millen was the lone dissenting vote. Republican board Chair Francis De Luca was traveling and absent for the vote.
The remaining votes were the same from each member – 3-1 – on Dupre not carrying her burden of proof to show that she complied with the state registration and party affiliation requirements, to the challenge on her registration from Jerry Reinoehl of Fayetteville, and that there is no intent to make a permanent domicile or permanent residence in North Carolina.
But Dupre can still run as a write-in or as an unaffiliated candidate, according to Eggers.
Jason Tyson, spokesman for the NCSBE, told Carolina Journal that anyone who voted for Dupre will still have their vote counted since ballots have already been printed and, in some cases, have been mailed or people have already voted in person during the early voting period. If Dupre were to win the primary, she would be vacated as a candidate, and the Republican Party would have to fill the position with a different candidate.
In January, Carolina Journal was alerted to Dupre’s voter registration address as being that of a UPS Store in Charlotte, which was confirmed by the NCSBE Voter Search Tool.
At that time, Dupre stated in an email to CJ that, as required by law, she has a valid, state-recognized street address, is a registered voter in North Carolina, and is following all applicable state and federal laws.
“I do not appreciate someone trying to smear me and my campaign efforts by suggesting otherwise,” she continued. “As a former law enforcement officer, I take the safety of myself and my family very seriously and do not share my personal information unless absolutely necessary.’
Reinoehl claimed that Dupre’s NC voter registration was invalid because she does not satisfy the residency requirements according to state law and that her residency cannot be determined, making her candidacy invalid.
The challenge form from Reinoehl indicated that her North Carolina residence is the UPS Store in Charlotte and that she also has a residence in Ocala, Florida, and that she is also registered to vote in Marion County and voted in the state’s April 1 primary election.
She told the board on Wednesday that although she doesn’t have a permanent home in the state, she considers herself a resident and lives in a “glamper” or an upgraded version of a camper, hotel rooms, and Airbnb’s while she has been campaigning in the state.
Dupre also admitted that she has a Florida driver’s license, all of her vehicles are registered in Florida, and the glamper is currently located at her home in Florida.
Michael Dickerson, director of the Mecklenburg County Board of Elections, told Carolina Journal last month that Dupre’s previous voter registration was in Idaho. According to Ballotpedia, a Margot Dupre also ran as a write-in candidate as an independent in the 2024 US House race in Idaho’s First Congressional District and lost, having received 7 votes.
Reinoehl questioned Dupre on Wednesday about her candidacy in Idaho, to which she said that she “threw her name on the ballot, and didn’t campaign there.”
He also asked how she voted in that election, to which she responded that she voted by mail from Florida and didn’t see how her address was relevant at that time.
The board deliberated the question of intent and whether Dupre actually abandoned her home or domicile in Florida and intended not to return to it.
Carmon said it was a sticky issue and referred to when he was the lone member comprised of a different board in 2019 to vote no in a similar situation involving Jody Greene, a candidate for Columbus County sheriff.
The Columbus County Board of Elections voted 3-2 that Greene wasn’t a domiciled resident of the county because he lived in an RV and didn’t intend to make a Cerro Gordo address his permanent home.
The NCSBE overturned that ruling, leaving Carmon as the only board member in agreement with the county.
In reference to Dupre, Eggers said that it doesn’t appear that her glamper has been in any one particular location long enough to acquire a new domicile.
“Which is, I think, troubling and problematic, is if you can just pick and choose where you want your mailbox to be, I could vote in my local town elections, or I could change school board districts, or I could change county commissioner districts quite easily, depending upon which race I want to vote in,” he said.
Eggers also questioned her intent to abandon her home in Florida, given the fact that her husband, two of her adult children, and the horses that she owns are all there, as well as the glamper.
Millen argued that Dupre’s decision to stay in hotels and Airbnbs in North Carolina shows her intent to stay in the state.
Eggers and Rucho disagreed, with Eggers stating that if she were set up at a KOA Campground or if she rented a house or an apartment, according to Rucho, the hearing wouldn’t be taking place on her candidacy.
“Being nomadic and voting is one thing, being nomadic and a candidate in a party is another,” Rucho said.
Dupre has publicly stated that she plans on appealing the board’s decision, which means the case would go to the state Court of Appeals next.
She was one of seven Republicans on the ticket looking to fill the seat that US Sen. Thom Tillis is leaving after he chose not to run for re-election last year.
Michael Whatley, former chair of the Republican National Committee and the North Carolina Republican Party, is considered the front-runner in the lineup and is most likely to face former Democratic North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, one of six running on the Democratic ticket in the March primary.