In an
earlier diary entry I told the story of a contested State Sentate Race in Kentucky that looks like it will be taken from the Democrats, no matter what the law says.
Here are the highlights, then I'll get to the specifics:
Prior to election day, the Democrat in the race, Virginia Woodward, filed suit in state court contending that Dana Seum (rhymes with Slime) Stephenson was in eligible because she didn't meet the state's 6 year residency requirement before running for the state senate.
The court made no ruling until after the election. In the election Stephenson won a close election.
After the election the court ruled that Seum-Stephenson didn't meet the residency requirements, and Woodward should be seated in the state senate.
That seems pretty cut and dried, Woodward got more votes than any eligible candidate. However in Kentucky all state election disputes are settled in the Republican controlled state senate, where Dan Seum, Dana's daddy, is a leading republican member.
Today the State Senate met to consider the "dispute". And SURPRISE, SURPRISE -- they decided to seat Seum-Stephenson. No matter that a judge ruled her ineligible, since it's disputed then the state senate can seat whoever they wish. I guess that anybody can claim that they are disputing an election and have it decided by the state senate now.
One side note -- this raw power grab was too much for one Republican Member. Republican Sen. Bob Leeper resigned his seat after the vote. He had been the chairman of a committee that looked into the matter for the senate and recommended that Woodward be seated. The sleeze was just too deep for him.
It will now be interesting to see if the courts are willing to get involved with this blatant grab for power.