By Associated Press
Gadsden, AL – Lawyers for state Senator Larry Means, a Democrat from Gadsden, asked a judge Tuesday to throw out a lawsuit that seeks to void his election for filing his campaign finance reports late. In legal papers filed in Montgomery, attorneys Terry Butts and Matt Lembke sought to intervene in a lawsuit filed by Means' write-in opponent, Jack Lowe, against the secretary of state. Means was not named as a defendant in the suit, which caused his attorneys to seek to intervene on behalf of one of Means' constituents, Frances Stone of Etowah County. They argued that only the Senate can determine whether Means is eligible to serve, and the courts should bow out. Means is one of six Democratic senators who have called for Senator Lowell Barron, a Democrat from Fyffe, to be replaced as president pro tem of the Senate. One of Means' lawyers said that is the genesis of the legal fight.