MEMORANDUM & ORDER Scherie Murray sought a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives for the 14th Congressional District (covering parts of the Bronx and Queens) in 2020. The Plaintiff here, the Scherie Murray for Congress Campaign, hired Andrew Shannon to help the candidate secure a spot on the Republican primary ballot for that election. Ultimately, however, the New York City Board of Elections excluded Murray from the ballot because the campaign submitted a petition that failed to comply with New York State election law. Plaintiff sues three defendants: Shannon personally; Shannon’s organization, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference — Peninsula Chapter (“SCLC”); and an individual named Dean Nelson, who allegedly introduced the campaign to Shannon. Defendants move to dismiss the complaint pursuant to Rules 12(b)(2) and (b)(6). For the following reasons, I grant Defendants’ motions to dismiss. I also deny Plaintiff’s latest motion to amend the complaint. I. Factual Background The following factual allegations are drawn from the second amended complaint filed on July 2, 2021 (“complaint” or “Compl.”). ECF No. 36. I accept these allegations as true for purposes of the instant motion, and draw all reasonable inferences in the plaintiff’s favor. E.g., Lundy v. Catholic Health Sys. of Long Island Inc., 711 F.3d 106, 113 (2d Cir. 2013). A. New York Ballot Requirements To appear on the ballot for a primary election in New York State, a candidate must submit a “designating petition” pursuant to New York State election law. Compl. 11; New York Election Law §6-118. The designating petition must be signed by a specified number of individuals registered to the candidate’s political party and entitled to vote in the primary in the relevant district. N.Y. Elec. Law §6-132. Each signature sheet of the designating petition must also be signed by what is known as a “subscribing witness.” N.Y. Elec. Law §6-132(2); Maslow v. Bd. of Elections in City of New York, 658 F.3d 291, 294 (2d Cir. 2011). The subscribing witness must be “a duly qualified voter of the state, who is an enrolled voter 3 of the same political party as the voters qualified to sign the petition and who has not previously signed a petition for another candidate for the same office.” N.Y. Elec. Law §6-132(2). B. The Campaign Engages Shannon as Consultant At the outset of her campaign, Plaintiff sought to hire a vendor to provide “field operations” including securing petition signatures, and who could help it comply with electionlaw requirements in the process. Compl. 14. Murray connected with defendant Dean Nelson through his “associate,” Kevrick McKain, who worked with Nelson at something called the Douglas Leadership Institute. Id. Nelson is an ordained minister. Id. 4. He and McKain offered to connect Murray to defendant Andrew Shannon. Id. 14. Plaintiff had “multiple” conversations with Nelson, McKain, and Shannon in January and February of 2020. Id.
16-17. Specifically, on February 13, McKain texted Murray to say “that he would be connecting her campaign ‘to Andrew [Shannon] today. He has some folks that are a part of SCLC Network that live [] in the city.’” Id. 14. Shannon bills himself as a “consultant” and maintains an office in Newport News, Virginia. Id. 3; see also id. 18. McKain represented that Shannon “could assist the Murray for Congress campaign in field operations to comply with New York state election laws and fulfilling its corresponding petition/signature obligations.” Id. 14. Plaintiff had “several” other “conversations with Nelson and Shannon about their experience and expertise in collecting signatures in the State and City of New York,” and they “represented…on multiple occasions” that Shannon “had the requisite skills and resources necessary to comply with New York State election law requirements and to obtain qualifying signatures….” Id.
