He won the race for Wake County judge. Now a board has ruled him ‘ineligible.’

Tim Gunther, who recently won his race for District Court judge, was ruled ineligible Wednesday after admitting he had never legally resided at his Fuquay-Varina address.

The Wake County Board of Elections made its unanimous finding after Gunther’s attorney said the candidate and Democrat had never finishing moving to the house his daughter and ex-wife owned “to a degree that would satisfy the strict legal requirements.”

He said he would not protest the complaint from Joan Erwin, who lives in the district and had been a law professor to Gunther’s Republican challenger, Beth Tanner.

“As a lawyer,” said Gunther’s attorney, Karl Knudsen, “Tim understands that the letter of the law must be followed, no matter how personally heartbreaking the consequences may be.”

The decision gets passed to the N.C. Board of Elections, said county board spokeswoman Stacy Beard.

Gunther won the election with 56.19% of the votes to Tanner’s 43.81%, according to the state Board of Elections website. Erwin wants Tanner installed in the seat as the next-highest vote-getter.

Gov. Roy Cooper typically appoints a replacement when a District Court seat goes vacant. It was unclear to observers at the board meeting Wednesday if that would happen in this case because Gunther never took office.

“The board met, they heard the evidence, they made the decision,” Tanner said after the ruling. “That’s how the process works.”

Erwin’s complaint included a listing from the Wake County Register of Deeds showing Gunther lives on Solway Court in Cary, and she also provided tax and real estate documents showing the Fuquay-Varina house belongs to Natalie and Alyssa Gunther.

The board’s decision capped a three-hour meeting that offered details as personal as Gunther’s car being parked in the Cary driveway and a birthday card addressed to him found in the trash.

Gunther and his attorney left the hearing immediately after Knudsen read the statement. District Attorney Lorrin Freeman said she would wait for a report from the elections board before making a decision about criminal charges.

This story was originally published November 18, 2020 at 6:14 PM.