CAMPBELL COUNTY, Ky. — The Kentucky Supreme Court decided on Thursday that it would not hear a case involving the race for Campbell County Commissioner – District 1.
The race for the Republican nomination back in May pitted longtime incumbent Brian Painter against challenger David Fischer, a campaign that Painter narrowly won by just over a hundred votes.
But following the primary election, Fischer’s campaign filed suit, charging that Painter had personally engaged in illegal electioneering when Painter distributed campaign materials at an event for poll workers when early voting had already started.
A Jefferson Co. judge agreed, vacating Painter’s win, tossing him from the ballot, and replacing him with Fischer.
Painter’s campaign appealed and the Kentucky Court of Appeals overturned the lower court’s ruling.
On Thursday, the state Supreme Court denied Fischer’s campaign’s motion for a review of the case, ending the legal battle and officially setting the November match-up as one between Painter, who is seeking his fourth four-year term, against Democratic nominee Melissa Whalen.
“I’ve been kind of reclusive about this because while there is ongoing litigation I don’t want to have anything I say that would affect the ongoing case, so that’s why I’ve been very quiet,” Painter said. “But now that the Supreme Court has denied the motion to have discretionary review, it’s over and I can talk a little bit now.”
Painter expressed regret for handing out election materials at the event, calling it a mistake, but arguing that there were nineteen poll works at the training on May 4 at the Campbell County Fiscal Court building and that the early voting machine was on a different floor.
“I didn’t know it was up there. Our building is huge. It got overlooked by the other folks in the room, too,” he said. “When I put my information down, (the poll workers) really shouldn’t have seen that information because (the election machine) was in the building, but at no point did any of those pamphlets get out of the training room.”
He offered an apology to the poll workers. Painter said that his margin of victory in the primary was five times larger than the number of election workers present on May 4.
“No one was actively voting, it was very remote from where the voting machine was and it was a mistake,” he said. “I’ll admit my mistakes.”
Steve Megerle, an attorney representing Fischer’s campaign, said that he and the candidate were disappointed in the Supreme Court’s decision not to review the case.
“At the end of the day, the Court of Appeals never denied or found that Mr. Painter did not break the electioneering law,” Megerle said. “This was primarily about the remedy that was leveled against Mr. Painter for his cheating and this is definitely a scar on the integrity of elections in Campbell County.”
Megerle charged that Campbell County Clerk Jim Luersen “put his thumb on the scale” in Painter’s favor by allowing the electioneering to take place. “Mr. Painter was lucky that the Court of Appeals decided that a different remedy was appropriate.”
Supreme Court Justice Michelle Keller, who is elected from a district that includes Campell County and Northern Kentucky, recused herself from the decision, noting that twenty years ago, while in private practice as an attorney, she had represented Democrat Melissa Whalen in a civil matter.
With under two months to go until the general election, Painter said that he would strike a tone of reconciliation.
“What I am going to be doing is running a nice, active campaign until November 8 and hopefully return as commissioner,” Painter said, citing what he characterized as accomplishments of the Fiscal Court, including “the most efficient government in the region.”
Campbell County Republican politics have seen a heightened level of division this election cycle with members who hold leadership roles in the county party’s organization challenging incumbent Republicans. Party Chairwoman Anna Zinkhon was defeated by Judge/Executive Steve Pendery in May, and Jessica Neal, a member of the county party’s “election integrity committee” was also defeated her bid to be the nominee in the 24th Senate District, and then proceeded to lose multiple times after challenging the results in court.
Megerle, Fischer’s attorney, offered remarks indicating that reconciliation could be a challenge for Painter.
“As a member of the Republican Party I am ashamed that Mr. Painter is our candidate for county commissioner and I hope that this stain on our elections will be a wake-up call to the (county) clerk and election officials to clean up and take a strong look at how they conduct their trainings and I hope they never invite or permit any candidate, Republican or Democrat, whatever, to electioneer to the poll workers because it’s absolutely wrong,” Megerle said. “Mr. Painter will go down in the books as having electioneered.”
Painter said that as an elected official, he understands criticism and pushback, but also said that it was good to be quiet while the legal proceedings continued.
“I don’t know how to describe it other than it was hard after twelve years of serving and after making a small mistake, to be pushed to the side. That was kind of emotional, but I got over it pretty quick,” Painter said of how he felt in May when the circuit court judge tossed him from the ballot. “These jobs are service-related and you have to have the servant’s mindset to serve in them and to take what you get sometimes. Sometimes it’s not a very forgiving arena that we work in but it worked out for the better.
“I feel a lot better now than I did in early May.”
This story originally appeared on LINK NKY. Click here for more.
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