A Democrat who unsuccessfully ran for a state Senate seat in November has filed a lawsuit against his Republican opponent in the race and a political consulting firm in Atlanta alleging the winner’s campaign defamed him.
The lawsuit, filed last week in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Georgia, accuses Republican state Sen. Shawn Still of making “outrageous, false, and malicious” statements about Ashwin Ramaswami, the Democrat who challenged him. The statements were defamatory and damaged Ramaswami’s reputation by placing him in a false light, the lawsuit said.
Landmark Communications, a political consulting firm that worked on Still’s campaign, is also named in the lawsuit.
Ramaswami ran against Still for the District 48 seat, which represents parts of north Fulton, south Forsyth and northwest Gwinnett counties. Still won reelection with 54% of the vote in November.
During the campaign, Ramaswami submitted a public records request seeking the names of students at a local high school. In the lawsuit, he said the purpose of seeking students’ names was to find young people who were eligible to vote in the election, ensure they understood absentee and early voting rules, and encourage them to become “civically engaged.”
However, Peach State Values, a political action committee that supports Senate Republicans, sent out mailers that framed the request as Ramaswami soliciting private information about students at a local high school with suspicion.
“If you or your teenager is approached inappropriately by creepy Ashwin Ramaswami, call the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office,” one campaign mailer read.
At the time, Still said he didn’t review the mailers before they went out because of rules that bar campaigns from coordinating with PACs. But he said Ramaswami’s story changed multiple times and his attempt to communicate with teenagers raised safety concerns.
Still’s attorney, Bryan Tyson, said they will seek immediate dismissal of the lawsuit.
Earlier this year, Still filed a bill that prohibits the disclosure of public students’ records to political candidates or those acting on their behalf. Senate Democrats initially opposed the legislation but after slightly adjusting the language, voted unanimously to pass it. The new law went into effect in May.
The lawsuit particularly takes issue with the phrase “soliciting children,” saying in that the common usage and understanding of those words is “seeking to have sex with children, which Ashwin was not attempting.”
The lawsuit also said images from certain mailers were “intentionally concocted” to make Ramaswami look like a pedophile.
“We just flatly disagree with that,” Tyson said. “The language in the campaign mailer always included Mr. Ramaswami’s Open Records Act request, so it was always clear from the context that he was soliciting information about students.”
In addition, the lawsuit alleges Still made statements toward Ramaswami with “ill will” to damage him and knew the impressions he left were false.
Bruce Brown, a lawyer representing Ramaswami, declined to comment. Ramaswami did not respond to requests from the AJC.
Ramaswami is seeking punitive damages against Still, in addition to other damages, and that he cover his attorney fees.
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