Republican Jack Martins has filed an emergency appeal in federal court seeking to have the election to fill the 3rd Congressional District seat on Long Island pushed back to December.
Martins wants a federal judge to hear emergency arguments this Tuesday on whether the election to fill the seat of retiring Congressman Steve Israel should be held on December 6 instead of Election Day.
He argues that because a judge ordered a new Republican primary on October 6, he would only have three weeks to prepare for a general election, which would give an unfair advantage to the Democrats.
The Mineola Republican had initially succeeded in challenging the petitions of his primary opponent, Philip Pidot. However a state judge ruled that Pidot should have been on the ballot.
Earlier this week, Martins lost a federal appeal that the shortened campaign would deny armed forces members their right to vote, since federal law requires they receive ballots 45 days before an election. The Department of Defense waived that requirement.
His opponent, Democrat Tom Suozzi, has accused Martins of trying to get off a ballot that includes Donald Trump.
