GOP to sue over top ballot line

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - The Connecticut Republican Party is suing Secretary of the State Denise Merrill over the order of candidates on state ballots for the upcoming November elections.
   
The GOP announced it filed the lawsuit on Thursday in a news release first obtained by The Associated Press.
   
Last month, Merrill, a Democrat, disagreed with Republicans who said their candidates should be on the top line of November's statewide election ballot, even though a Democrat won the 2010 governor's race.

They argued that Republican Tom Foley received 560,874 votes, while Malloy received 540,970 as a Democrat and 26,308 as a Working Families Party candidate.
   
Merrill said the Working Families Party did not have minor party status in 2010 and state law says the top line goes to the party of the winning gubernatorial candidate.