Paula Stark sues to get on the ballot after qualifying mix-up

Rep. Paula Stark is suing to get on the ballot for re-election in House District 47 after she failed to qualify this month.

The St. Cloud Republican officially filed her lawsuit in Leon Circuit Court and argued her Form 6 was hand-delivered to Tallahassee in time by Stark’s campaign Treasurer Joel Davis, who is also her partner. But Stark’s suit says Davis was mistakenly given the form back.

Form 6 is a public disclosure of financial interests that all candidates for state office must submit during the qualifying period, which started June 8 and ran through June 12 at noon.

“The Department’s filing officer physically took possession of all three qualifying materials from the Plaintiff before the end of the qualifying period,” her lawsuit said.

“More specifically, the Department’s filing officer promptly accepted the Plaintiff’s qualifying fee check and her oath of office as provided by hand from her campaign treasurer. Unfortunately, the Department’s filing officer erroneously returned the Plaintiff’s Form 6 filing to her campaign treasurer. Plaintiff’s treasurer did not question the statement by the filing officer and thought that Plaintiff’s qualification was complete.”

Stark’s name appeared as “did not qualify” on the state election website later that day. Stark said she was not notified until the following Monday she failed to qualify. But Stark says that decision should be reversed.

“Plaintiff’s qualification occurred when the filing officer took physical possession of the Form 6 prior to the conclusion of the qualification period,” her lawsuit said.

Stark declined to comment Monday when Florida Politics reached out. The Secretary of State did not immediately respond to the lawsuit late Monday afternoon.

If Stark is omitted from the ballot, it will be a big win for Democrats, who will automatically flip her seat since there are no other Republican candidates in the race. The winner would be decided in the Democratic Primary between Jorge Figueroa and Anthony Nieves.

Stark’s campaign has long faced problems with paperwork.

Last year, the state shut down the Friends of Paula political committee after unpaid fines accumulated from late campaign finance reports.

Stark accepted personal responsibility about her qualifying problems last week. 

“As the candidate, responsibility ultimately rests with me,” she said.

“While my team and I are carefully reviewing the facts, procedures, and all legal options available under Florida law, I recognize that voters expect accountability, transparency, and professionalism from their elected officials. I take those expectations seriously and always will. We believe the facts support the outcome that we in fact did everything required by law and have the proof of that.”

Stark got elected in 2022 to represent HD 47, a traditionally blue district covering St. Cloud, east Kissimmee and a small portion of Orange County.