Kentucky elections chief opens door for Kulkarni to run again after disqualification

In a ruling released Thursday morning, the state Supreme Court explained its decision in declaring that incumbent Rep. Nima Kulkarni's primary win three months ago should be struck down .

But her candidacy may not be over.

Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams said Thursday afternoon that based on language in the Supreme Court's ruling, he plans to "certify that a vacancy exists in the nomination for state representative in the 40th District. I intend to permit the Democratic and Republican Parties to nominate candidates for this office, and give the people a choice."

Kulkarni, a Louisville Democrat in office since 2019, will push for a place on the ballot this fall, her lawyer said. The general election, with every state House seat up for grabs, is set for Nov. 5.

"We thank Secretary Adams for his swift response, which the voters of District 40 deserved," attorney James Craig told The Courier Journal. "Representative Kulkarni, notwithstanding today's decision, is eligible to seek her party's nomination after a vacancy is declared, and she intends to seek that nomination."

But Steven Megerle, an attorney who has opposed Kulkarni's eligibility, said he expects Jefferson Circuit Court to "issue a final order consistent with the opinion of the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court with next steps," as he argued the Court of Appeals disqualified Kulkarni before the primary and determined she was never eligible to be on the ballot.

"Under KRS 118.345, Ms. Kulkarni has been disqualified," he added, citing a statute that says defeated or disqualified primary candidates are ineligible to run in subsequent elections unless a vacancy occurs. "Her name cannot appear on a ballot under whatever process proceeds."

Craig said the Supreme Court's decision appears to be final and any other legal challenges would need to be directed toward the secretary of state's ruling.

The state's Supreme Court had ruled in June that Kulkarni's win in the House District 40 Democratic primary should be ruled ineligible, as one of two people who signed her nomination paperwork in December was a registered Republican at the time. Kentucky statutes call for two registered members of one party to nominate that party's candidate for office.

That ruling upheld a previous order from the state's Court of Appeals , which ruled just before the primary in May that she was not eligible to run because of her paperwork issue. Kentucky Supreme Court Chief Justice Laurance B. VanMeter ruled days later that she should be allowed to remain on the ballot in the interim , but the results of that race should not be certified until the high court could weigh in.

Adams' statement Thursday referenced a paragraph in the Supreme Court's 27-page decision that said the disqualification of a candidate subsequent to the election means "no election has occurred and the true and legitimate will of the people has not yet been expressed."

Megerle, who argued against Kulkarni's eligibility on behalf of his client, former state Rep. Dennis Horlander, had argued the court opinion released earlier in the day showed "an overwhelming majority of the Supreme Court found Ms. Kulkarni should be disqualified," as the Court of Appeals had disqualified her before the primary election.

Speaking to The Courier Journal on Thursday before Adams' statement, Megerle said Kulkarni's lone challenger in the primary, truck driver William Zeitz, should be declared the winner, though he argued to the state Supreme Court that the disqualification of a first-place finisher after an election "does not entitle the second-place finisher to ascend to nomination" and that no election had taken place.

"My client and I will defer to whatever the circuit court decides, as long as it is crystal clear that Nima Kulkarni cannot be a candidate in a primary election or general election now that she's been disqualified," Megerle said Thursday.

Kulkarni's eligibility was challenged in a lawsuit filed by Horlander, who represented House District 40 in Frankfort from 1997 through 2018 before he was defeated by Kulkarni in the primary ahead of her first term in office in 2019. He ran against her two years later, but Kulkarni won then, too, pulling about 78% of the vote.

Megerle had said his client was not motivated by "political gamesmanship" in his lawsuit, filed in March, but wanted the process of being nominated for a partisan office to be followed and respected. After the Supreme Court's ruling in June, Megerle said Horlander would take time to consider "whether to reenter the arena" and run for the House seat if it opened up.

House District 40 covers several neighborhoods in Louisville west of Interstate 65 and north of Interstate 264.

This story may be updated.

Reach Lucas Aulbach at laulbach@courier-journal.com.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky elections chief opens door for Kulkarni to run again after disqualification