Kentucky secretary of state certifies vacancy in Kulkarni race, parties to pick nominees

Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams officially certified a vacancy Thursday in a state House race where the Democratic incumbent was disqualified from the primary, notifying both parties in a letter that they are to choose nominees for the general election in November.

Adams first indicated last week that he intended to declare a vacancy in the race, following the Kentucky Supreme Court’s formal opinion disqualifying the primary candidacy of Democratic Rep. Nima Kulkarni of Louisville due to a filing error.

According to the Jefferson County Clerk’s office, the deadline for ballots to be printed in the county is coming fast on Sept. 16.

The Louisville Democratic Party intends to act quickly to choose a general election nominee, as their deadline for candidate applications is 5 p.m. Thursday. Party leaders will then interview the candidates Friday evening and have their five-member district nominating committee pick a nominee that night.

Kulkarni told Kentucky Public Radio she applied for the party nomination late Wednesday, and was told that four other Democratic candidates had also applied.

While Adams says Kulkarni is not disqualified from being nominated by Democrats as the party’s general election nominee, there is still some legal uncertainty due to a pending motion in Jefferson Circuit Court challenging Adams’ declared vacancy.

Steve Megerle — the attorney for Dennis Horlander, who filed the March petition challenging Kulkarni’s candidacy — filed a motion last week asking the court to declare primary candidate William Zeitz as the winner of the Democratic primary, as he was the only qualified candidate. His motion also asked the judge to enjoin Adams from taking any action to certify a vacancy in the race.

At issue is a disagreement over how to interpret the Supreme Court’s opinion released last week, as the majority opinion did not explicitly provide a remedy for how the general election candidates would be chosen in the wake of Kulkarni’s disqualification. The high court upheld the appeals court decision disqualifying Kulkarni in advance of the primary, though the Supreme Court stayed that decision just before the primary, allowing the two-candidate primary election to take place in May and giving the justices time to consider the case.

On Wednesday, Megerle filed another motion asking for the judge to sign an emergency temporary restraining order against Adams, prohibiting him from certifying the vacancy.

With the case sent back to the Jefferson Circuit, Judge Mitch Perry will have a motion hour Tuesday to take up Megerle’s motions.

The Kentucky State Board of Elections has not commented on their interpretation of the Supreme Court ruling and whether there should be a vacancy in the race or if Zeitz should be declared the winner.

Kerstin Jeffus, the executive director of the Jefferson County Republican Party, did not respond to a question asking if the party intended to choose a nominee before or after a ruling by the Jefferson Circuit Court.

Ashley Tinius, the spokesperson for the Jefferson County Clerk’s office, said the local election officials “will wait for the litigation's outcome and follow the Secretary of State's directive,” ahead of the looming deadline to print ballots.

This story has been updated.

State government and politics reporting is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.