PORT ALLEN — A Port Allen city council member has filed a lawsuit challenging the candidacy of the only other person in the race, saying he hasn't lived in the city long enough.

Shelton Berry said Tuesday he has lived in Port Allen all his life, leaving only for military service and a temporary re-location. He says he's always considered Port Allen his domicile and that he's eligible to run.

A judge scheduled a hearing for Tuesday afternoon on a claim by April King that Berry is ineligible. She says he voted in an East Baton Rouge Parish election last November, and that is proof he doesn't meet the one-year residency requirement. She also says he lives in Council District III, and not in Council District IV.

Berry, an independent, and King, a Democrat, are seeking to replace Brandon Brown, whose term expires at the end of the year. Brown is also running as a Democrat.

King did not return messages left for her Tuesday.

A hearing is scheduled Wednesday on a challenge to the candidacy of mayoral candidate Lance Joseph. He says he lives in Port Allen while his wife lives in a Plaquemine home where he enjoys a homestead exemption on his property taxes. Local resident Regina Rizzutto has challenged his candidacy.

A separate challenge was filed in East Baton Rouge Parish against two Supreme Court District 2 candidates. Elise Knowles Collins says 2nd Circuit Judge Marcus Hunter and Louisiana Housing Commission Chief of Staff Leslie Chambers aren't eligible for the race. 

Collins says Chambers doesn't live in the newly redrawn District 2. According to property records, Chambers owns a home in Prairieville and has used the address on campaign records on multiple occasions.

Louisiana requires candidates to live in districts they seek to represent, but the exact definition of residency is not always clear. Courts often interpret the law generously, encouraging candidates to run for office. In the past, courts have allowed candidates to run in redrawn districts.

The issue would arise in Ascension Parish not being in the Supreme Court’s second district before the new map took effect, having previously been in the court’s fifth district along with East Baton Rouge and six other parishes. State lawmakers earlier this year redrew the judicial boundaries to carve out a second majority-Black voting district for the seven-member court, which includes 17 parishes from Iberville stretching north along the Mississippi River up to Monroe.

The suit also alleges Hunter hasn't filed state income tax returns in three of the last five years, despite saying he did when filing his candidacy for the election.

Both suits ask judges to remove the candidates from ballots.

A judge has opened a hearing that is scheduled to resume later Tuesday.