A ruling knocks Olympic gold medalist Carl Lewis back off the ballot for a New Jersey Senate seat

Former Olympic gold medalist Carl Lewis, running for a Burlington County state Senate seat, was pushed off the November ballot on Tuesday when the state's top elections official refused to certify his candidacy.

A federal judge will hold a hearing on the matter Friday afternoon and could reverse the decision by Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, who acted in her capacity as secretary of state.

Lewis, 50, a Medford Democrat, has been embroiled in a months-long legal fight over whether he meets the state's residency requirement to run in the Eighth Legislative District.

The track-and-field star grew up in Willingboro but in recent years lived in California, where he voted as recently as 2009. Though he owns property in Burlington County and coaches track at his alma mater, Willingboro High School, he did not register to vote in New Jersey until April 11, the day he launched his campaign.

Guadagno, a Republican, tried to bump Lewis from the primary ballot in April on the ground that he had not lived in New Jersey officially for the required four years.

A federal appeals court overruled Guadagno in May and ordered that Lewis' name remain on the ballot until a federal court judge could rule on the matter.

Both sides are waiting for U.S. District Judge Noel L. Hillman, who already has rejected part of Lewis' residency argument, to make a determination.

Lewis ran unopposed in the June 7 primary and secured the party's nomination in the Republican-leaning district. He would face freshman Republican Sen. Dawn Marie Addiego in November and has been out knocking on doors, campaigning in the district.

In scratching Lewis from the ballot on Tuesday, Guadagno - who was required to certify all eligible state candidates by Monday - again cited his residency. The ruling by the federal appeals court panel applied only to the primary ballot, she said.

"Absent a decision by the court to the contrary, Mr. Lewis has not met the four-year residency requirement," Guadagno said in a letter to the three county clerks in the Eighth District.

Guadagno could have certified Lewis' candidacy and allowed Hillman to make the final call.

Lewis' lawyer, William Tambussi, called Guadagno's ruling an "11th-hour, unilateral political tactic" and petitioned for immediate intervention by Hillman.

"This is nothing short of a brazen attempt to dictate the result of the election," Tambussi said.

Lewis' campaign contends that the residency requirement is unconstitutional in the athlete's case. Chris Russell, a spokesman for Addiego, said Lewis had asked the court to treat him differently.

If Guadagno's decision brings the case to a close sooner, "that can only be a good thing for taxpayers who have been footing the bill for this case all along and for voters to have some clarity," she said.