Louisville Democrat Nima Kulkarni's spot on the primary ballot challenged in lawsuit

A lawsuit filed Monday in Jefferson Circuit Court is pushing to remove an incumbent state representative from the upcoming primary ballot.

The filing claims Rep. Nima Kulkarni, D-Louisville, should be disqualified from running in the 2024 election because one of two individuals who signed her candidate paperwork was a registered Republican at that time.

State law requires candidates who file for office to be nominated by two members of that candidate's party.

Kulkarni described the lawsuit as a "desperate attempt ... to try and force our courts to influence our elections and take away the rights of the voters in the 40th district to choose their own representation."

The lawsuit claims one of the individuals whose name is on her paperwork, Sharon LaRue, was a Republican when she signed it before changing parties weeks later.

The case was filed by Northern Kentucky attorney Steven Megerle on behalf of former state Rep. Dennis Horlander, who represented District 40 for several years until he lost the seat in a race against Kulkarni in 2018. Kulkarni defeated Horlander again in a rematch two years later, racking up about 78% of the vote.

Kulkarni's district covers portions of Louisville south of downtown.

Speaking Tuesday afternoon to The Courier Journal, Kulkarni said LaRue was a registered Republican on the date the paper was signed but changed her registration and became a Democrat several days before the paperwork was certified by the Secretary of State's office. A statute cited in Horlander's lawsuit was interpreted incorrectly, she said, when it argued two members of her party had not signed her registration papers.

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"I don't know what they're afraid of," Kulkarni said. "(Horlander) doesn't seem to want to face me just as a regular challenger, so he's trying some of these tricks — whatever is up his sleeve.

"The main issue is that we need to let voters decide. They need to have a real choice. And I think what they're trying to do is take that choice away from voters."

The only name other than Kulkarni currently set to be on the primary ballot for House District 40 is William Zeitz, a Louisville Democrat.

This year's primary Election Day is set to take place on May 21.

Reach Lucas Aulbach at laulbach@courier-journal.com.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Nima Kulkarni's spot on Kentucky primary ballot questioned in lawsuit