SOUTH KINGSTOWN — Failed Republican Town Council candidate Andrew Bilodeau this week filed a defamation suit against political activist Jonathan Daly-Labelle over fliers distributed in the days leading up to the election.

Filed in Washington County Superior Court Monday, the lawsuit accuses Daly-Labelle of circulating false information in pamphlets handed out in Wakefield last weekend. Bilodeau argues the information caused him embarrassment and ridicule within the community and seeks unspecified monetary damages.

Additionally, Bilodeau sought a temporary restraining order barring Daly-Labelle from distributing the fliers. Superior Court Judge Allen P. Rubine denied that request Monday.

Bilodeau, 37, a lawyer and business owner, did not return messages left at his Warwick workplace or cell phone yesterday. He was defeated Tuesday in his second bid for a council seat.

Daly-Labelle, who has earned a reputation as an outspoken advocate for the schools and near constant presence at council meetings, handed out about 250 fliers urging residents to vote for Democratic candidates, he said. Scrawled in the margins were handwritten criticisms of Bilodeau and his running mates Republican Randal Brown and incumbent James W. O’Neill, a registered Democrat who ran as an independent. Bilodeau, Brown and O’Neill asked voters to “end party rule” and portrayed themselves as anti-casino candidates in a mailing paid for by O’Neill.

Daly-Labelle, who donned an “Anybody but Jim” T-shirt before the election, stated that Bilodeau did not claim expenses on his campaign finance reports filed with the state Board of Elections. This undercut Bilodeau’s theme of fiscal responsibility and open government, Daly-Labelle said.

An Oct. 13 filing by Bilodeau does not show any expenses and a $500 cash balance. Bilodeau filed an amended report for the same period on Nov. 1, claiming $100 in expenses, repayment of $1,831 in accounts payable and another $5,768 accounts payable for advertisements and fundraising expenses. A separate Nov. 1 filing, required a week before the election, shows $3,106 in accounts payable.

Candidates often file amended reports to reflect expenses they might have overlooked and are not penalized for doing so, said Richard Thornton, a supervising accountant with the Board of Elections.

Expenses should be reported when they occur, but might appear on the accounts payable until the bill is actually paid when it would shift to the expense line, Thornton said.

Daly-Labelle said Bilodeau called his house Sunday warning him through his wife that he planned to file suit.

“To me it’s a clear case of intimidation,” Daly-Labelle said yesterday outside the poll at South Kingstown High School. He stands behind his message. “First of all, I feel it’s accurate.”

The suit has drawn the interest of the Rhode Island affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union’s executive director Steven Brown.

It is akin to a SLAPP suit meant to stop Daly-Labelle from exercising his basic right to free speech under the First Amendment, Brown said. SLAPP is an acronym for Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation.

Brown dismissed Bilodeau’s argument that Daly-Labelle was violating state laws governing political action committees. By state law, PACS are a group of two or more people accepting contributions to advocate for or against a candidate or issue, Thornton said. Daly-Labelle insists he was acting alone.

Daly-Labelle’s actions “wouldn’t fit the definition of a PAC,” Thornton said.

The ACLU’s legal committee will decide at its next meeting whether to take Daly-Labelle’s case, Brown said. If so, Brown said the ACLU could file a counterclaim.