Anseman ruled eligible for Saturday’s election

Lafayette attorney Vanessa Waguespack Anseman’s bid for a seat on the state 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal was revived Monday after a clarification about her qualifications for the seat voided an earlier ruling that booted her from the race.
At a Monday hearing in Lake Charles, the same appeals court Anseman seeks to join reversed a ruling last week by St. Landry Parish District Judge Alonzo Harris, who had found she did not meet the legal qualifications for the office.
Anseman said Harris’ ruling, which came a day before the start of early voting, forced her to shift focus from her campaign to mounting a legal challenge to stay in the race.
“It’s frustrating that it has taken valuable time I had to campaign,” she said. “It has caused voter confusion, no doubt, with early voting. I can’t dwell on it. I can only move forward.”
Harris had ruled Anseman could not run because she had not been admitted to the practice of law for at least 10 years -- a state constitutional requirement for appeals court judges.
Anseman, one of three Republicans in the race, became a lawyer in October 2003.
But the St. Landry Parish District Attorney’s office had challenged her candidacy, arguing she was a few weeks shy of the 10-year requirement because she had temporarily lost her eligibility to practice law for letting state bar association dues lapse and not staying current with continuing legal education requirements.
Anseman had taken time off from the profession to care for her family.