Democratic state Rep. Nima Kulkarni of Louisville was named her party’s nominee for the general election in her House district Friday night, despite her previous disqualification from the primary in May.
Kulkarni’s status as a candidate has been on a legal roller coaster since March, when Dennis Horlander — her former opponent — filed a petition to remove her from the ballot due to a filing error.
Horlander’s attorney submitted two motions in Jefferson Circuit Court last week to block Kulkarni’s nomination, but he withdrew both motions on Sunday and did not appear at a motion hour in the judge’s courtroom Tuesday morning.
Later Tuesday afternoon, Horlander and William Zeitz — who Kulkarni defeated in the Democratic primary in May — sued Kulkarni and state and local election officials in Franklin Circuit court, seeking again to block Kulkarni’s nomination and certify Zeitz as the Democratic nominee for the general election.
James Craig, Kulkarni’s attorney, said earlier on Tuesday the withdrawal of Horlander’s motions in the Jefferson Circuit “should conclude this matter.”
“It's not only a win for Rep. Kulkarni, but it is a win for the voters,” Craig said in a statement. “Their intent has been clear throughout this process. She was nominated by nearly 80% of her district, and she was chosen again by her party last Friday.”
The new lawsuit from Horlander and Zeitz filed on Tuesday named Kulkarni and Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams as defendants, as well as Jefferson County Clerk Bobbie Holsclaw and the State Board of Elections.
Craig said Tuesday afternoon that the new lawsuit in Franklin Circuit amounted to “forum shopping,” adding “we’re prepared to defend Rep. Kulkarni’s nomination as long as Mr. Horlander seeks to challenge it.”
While Jefferson Circuit Judge Mitch Perry dismissed Horlander’s challenge to Kulkarni’s primary candidacy in April, a unanimous Court of Appeals ruling just before the May primary disqualified her, as one of the signatories to her candidate filing was a Republican at the time.
A day before the primary election, the Kentucky Supreme Court stayed that appeals ruling and allowed the primary election to proceed until they reviewed the case. Kulkarni won the primary with 78% of the vote, defeating Zeitz, the only other Democrat to file in the race.
However, the state Supreme Court sided with the appeals court ruling in June, ordering that Kulkarni be disqualified from the primary. The high court later released a full opinion in August, after which Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams certified a vacancy in the race and directed both the Democratic and Republican parties in Louisville to choose a general election nominee.
Following the release of the Supreme Court opinion, Steve Megerle — the attorney for Horlander — then filed motions seeking to block Adams from certifying a vacancy and for Judge Perry to declare Zeitz the winner of the primary and the Democratic nominee for the general election.
A committee of the Louisville Democratic Party chose Kulkarni as the general election nominee Friday night, following interviews with her and four other applicants for the office.
The new lawsuit filed by Megerle seeks an order voiding Adams’ declaration of a vacancy in the race and another order for the secretary to certify Zeitz as the rightful Democratic nominee in the district’s general election.
Megerle told Kentucky Public Radio that Zeitz believes Kulkarni “stole” the Democratic nomination from him and he is taking the necessary legal action in response. He added that the new lawsuit was filed in the Franklin Circuit because that is where Adams acted to certify a vacancy in the race and the judges in the district are “best equipped to handle issues involving state elected officials, such as the secretary of state.”
The Jefferson County Republican Party has not provided any details on when the party will choose a nominee.
Ashley Tinius, the spokesperson for the Jefferson County Clerk’s office, previously said the local election officials “will wait for the litigation's outcome and follow the Secretary of State's directive,” ahead of the looming September 16 deadline to print ballots for the county.
This story has been updated.
State government and politics reporting is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
