Rep. Kulkarni cleared for Nov. 5 ballot by Franklin Circuit judge. Appeal quickly filed.

FRANKFORT — Franklin Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd issued a ruling Monday afternoon that allows state Rep. Nima Kulkarni, a Louisville Democrat, to seek reelection in November after months of court battles that went to the state Supreme Court. However, the lawyer for a primary challenger has already filed another appeal.

In his order, Shepherd wrote that it was “not in the public interest for the Courts to intervene and dictate the result of this election” and that doing so “would effectively disenfranchise the voters of the District.” 

“In the circumstances of this case, the public interest requires denial of injunctive relief, which would thwart the will of the voters, as well as the will of the political party whose nomination is at issue,” Shepherd wrote.

Shepherd’s ruling is consistent with Secretary of State Michael Adams’ action in response to a state Supreme Court ruling that found that because of problems in her filing papers, Kulkarni was disqualified from the May primary election in the 40th House District. After that ruling, Adams declared a vacancy on the November ballot and invited political parties to submit nominees. 

Democrats in Louisville nominated Kulkarni. The Republicans did not nominate a candidate.

On Monday, Shepherd denied Democratic primary challenger William Zeitz’s request to be named as the qualifying candidate for the general election. Later in the day, Steven Megerle, the lawyer who sought to disqualify Kulkarni, said he submitted a request for an emergency review of  Shepherd’s order to the Kentucky Court of Appeals. The appeals court recommended transferring the case to the Kentucky Supreme Court on Tuesday.  

Megerle called denying Zeitz’s request the “death penalty” to his candidacy and that Kulkarni could have continued to seek office in other ways. 

“She would have still been able to run as a write-in candidate had she been disqualified and the vacancy not declared by the secretary of state,” Megerle said. 

In an unofficial vote count, Kulkarni received 78% of ballots cast in the May primary election. Zeitz received the remaining 22%.

Megerle first represented former state Rep. Dennis Horlander, a Democrat defeated by Kulkarni in the 2018 and 2020 Democratic primaries for the 40th House District. Horlander’s initial case was a challenge to the validity of Kulkarni’s nomination papers, as one of the two signatories was not a registered Democrat, as required by state law, at the time of signing. 

In the Franklin Circuit case, Megerle represented Horlander and Zeitz — the latest legal conundrum regarding the eligibility of Kulkarni. The pair joined together in suing election officials to challenge Adams’  declaration of a nominating vacancy. 

James Craig, an attorney for Kulkarni said that the outcome shows that “elections matter.” 

“This district has chosen Rep. Kulkarni to be their agent in Frankfort, and their voices matter,” Craig said. “We’ll continue to defend them for as long as Mr. Horlander continues to try to set them aside.” 

The various parties in the latest lawsuit all appeared before Shepherd Monday morning. Megerle sought an emergency injunction that would order Adams to put Zeitz on the ballot by issuing a certificate of nomination. Meanwhile, Craig argued that the Supreme Court’s opinion on the matter of declaring a nominating vacancy was clear. He added that Kulkarni had been chosen twice to seek another term in office — once by the unofficial votes cast in the primary and again when the local party nominated her for the general election. 

Michael Wilson, deputy general counsel for the secretary of state, told the court that Adams had acted in good faith based on direction from the Supreme Court’s opinion. Wilson added the office’s primary concern was printing ballots in a timely manner. 

The deadline to print ballots for the general election is Sept. 16. Monday is the deadline for the secretary of state to certify candidate names with local county clerks. 

The secretary of state’s office plans to follow the ruling of the court. 

This story was updated Tuesday afternoon.