PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Nine-time Olympic gold medalist Carl Lewis can be on the ballot for a New Jersey state Senate primary after all.

A federal appeals court in Philadelphia ruled Thursday the ballots should be printed with his name.

New Jersey’s top election official — a Republican — had said the Democratic political novice was not eligible to run because he didn’t meet a state residency requirement. Lewis grew up and lives in New Jersey but went to college in Texas and has a home and a business in California.

Lewis and his lawyers say the initial decision to block him was purely partisan.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.