Missouri city council candidate sues after election winner dies

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. (AP) — Independence City Council member Mike Huff is suing to retain his seat on the council after one of the winning candidates died shortly after the election.

Huff was one of four candidates who ran for two council seats in the April 5 election. He came in third, behind councilwoman Karen DeLuccie and newcomer Jared Fears.

DeLuccie died of cancer on April 12, the same day the election results were certified.

In a lawsuit filed Thursday, Huff said the Jackson County Election Board and the Independence city clerk should not have certified DeLuccie as the winner because she was incapacitated by her illness, The Kansas City Star reported.

Huff argues that he should be declared the winner of the second at-large seat.

DeLuccie’s family said after her death that her lung cancer prognosis in early February was positive. But after a scan on April 7, two days after the election, showed treatments had not worked she decided to stop treatment and spend time with her family.

Sara Zorich, a director at the Jackson County Election Board, said the city will have to decide how to proceed.

The City Council is expected to vote next week on whether to hold a special election.