March 31, 2003
Kentucky Governor: Nunn of the Above, or None of Nunn?
While courts around the country have interpreted state laws liberally to allow parties to fill a vacancy after a deadline (as in the New Jersey Senate race last year) and to prevent residency technicalities from throwing candidates off the ballot (as in Massachusetts in the 2002 governor's race), a judge in Kentucky threw lieutenant governor candidate Hunter Bates off the ballot for failing to reside in the state for the previous six years.
Bates, who has been Cong. Ernie Fletcher's running mate, has served as an aide on Capitol Hill to Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), and has lived in the Washington DC-area. The court's decision obviously affects Fletcher's bid for the Republican nomination for governor.
Now, the campaign of state Rep. Steve Nunn, who is also seeking the GOP nomination for governor, has gone to court asking a judge in Frankfort to declare Fletcher ineligible, since the deadline for filing for the race is past, and candidates for the state's two top offices run together as a team.
The point man for Nunn's effort has been his running mate for lieutenant governor, Bob Heleringer.
One ally of Nunn told me that both Nunn and Jefferson County Judge-Executive Rebecca Jackson, who is also seeking the GOP nomination for governor, knew that Bates did not meet residency requirements, and both believed that the eventual Democratic nominee would challenge the Fletcher-Bates ticket if it made it to the general election ballot.
So Nunn was just trying to help his party, huh? Hogwash.
Nunn, who is a factor in the contest largely because his father served one term as governor, apparently believes that he can't beat Fletcher fair and square, so he's going the legal route to try to beat him that way. Fletcher may be preferred by the voters, but Nunn hopes he can win with the lawyers.
Local handicappers have made Fletcher the favorite for the Republican nomination, with Jackson regarded as the congressman's competition for the nomination. Nunn isn't regarded as much of a threat to the top two contenders, so, at least in theory, the legislator could benefit by shaking up the race.
But if Fletcher were to be thrown off of the ballot, it's hard to imagine the congressman's supporters backing Nunn. And if that's the case, what kind of chance would Nunn have of winning the Republican nomination? None.
Stuart Rothenberg is editor and publisher of The Rothenberg Political Report.