A nonprofit publication of the Kentucky Center for Public Service Journalism

Legal action filed to disqualify Wedding from Special Election; candidate denies false residency claim


NKyTribune staff

James P. Coles, a voter in Kentucky House District 67, filed a legal action Wednesday asking to disqualify Mary Jo Wedding from the upcoming special election to fill the seat vacated by Dennis Keene.

Wedding

The filing claims Wedding does not reside in the House District and listed a fictitious address as her residence.

Wedding has filed to run in the Special Election set for February 25.

The filing claims Wedding actually resides outside the House District with her family.

The filing also claims Wedding gave a P.O. Box outside the House District as her House District mailing address, which it identifies as an apparent attempt to avoid mail delivery at the unoccupied residence address.

Candidate filing information from the Secretary of State’s office indicates Wedding listed a residence on Foote Avenue in Bellevue as her address.

Kentucky law requires that candidates reside in the House District that they represent so that citizens and voters are represented by those who reside in their communities and share their interests and concerns. Unqualified candidates must be immediately stricken from the ballot as a matter of law.

House District 67 encompasses the cities of Newport, Bellevue, Dayton, Highland Heights, Silver Grove, Melbourne, Woodlawn and portions of Southgate.

This excerpt from the filing identifies the reasons a Campbell County resident has asked to have candidate Mary Jo Wedding disqualified from the upcoming special election to fill the open 67th House District seat (click to enlarge).

Wedding’s campaign denied the allegations and issued the following response:

Republican candidate Mary Jo Wedding is a resident of the 67th House District and meets the legal requirements required by the Kentucky State Constitution and State Statutes. To say otherwise is false and should be viewed as a weak political attack meant to delegitimize Mary Jo Wedding’s campaign.

“The Wedding campaign’s Political Affairs Manager Sebastian Torres had the following to say regarding the complaint: “Baseless claims like this are why good people do not want to enter politics. This complaint is a weak political attack attempting to throw mud across the aisle. The evidence that will be presented in court will show how frivolous this dirty campaign tactic is.”

Mary Jo Wedding was raised in Newport and is a current resident of Bellevue. Wedding is a successful business owner whose company, located in Campbell County, has served the small business community throughout Northern Kentucky since 2002.

Wedding is happily married and has two children. After raising her children, Wedding went on to create and manage a successful small business in Campbell County.”

Former state representative Keene resigned his position in the legislature in December in favor of an appointment to the executive cabinet.

Following his resignation, Governor Andy Beshear set the February 25 date for the Special Election.

Candidates include Democrat Rachel Roberts and Republicans LeAnna Homandberg and Wedding.


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