Candidates for judge trade accusations about shady moves to get on the Fayette ballot
Perhaps the most contentious judicial race in Fayette County is between incumbent District Judge Kim Wilkie and his opponent, Lindsay Hughes Thurston.
Thurston says Wilkie essentially tried to hand over the judgeship to his son, Chris Wilkie, a Lexington attorney.
When Chris Wilkie submitted papers to run on the filing deadline in January, it signaled to Fayette County that Judge Wilkie “no longer wanted this job. He wanted his son to have it,” Thurston said.
Judge Wilkie counters that Thurston, a senior adviser to Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, violated state regulations when she used state time, personnel and resources in the secretary of state’s office to switch from one race for district judge to another immediately before the deadline.
“I think she (Thurston) has violated the ethics code,” Judge Wilkie said.
Wilkie said he has filed a complaint against Thurston with the Executive Branch Ethics Commission. (Kathryn Gabhart, executive director of the commission, said state law prohibits her from confirming or denying that a complaint had been made. In addition, the commission can dismiss a complaint if a complainant publicly reveals that it has been filed, according to administrative regulations.)
The commission does not meet again until Nov. 8, two days after the Nov. 6 election.
Kim Wilkie filed for re-election as 3rd division district judge on Oct. 17, 2017. He had no challenger until Chris Wilkie also filed to run as a candidate in the 3rd division about an hour before the deadline.
Meanwhile, Thurston initially filed in December for the 5th Division district judge’s seat that was vacated by Megan Lake Thornton, who decided to not run for re-election.
But upon learning that Chris Wilkie had filed, Thurston withdrew from the 5th Division race and then filed to run for the 3rd Division race.
Thurston did not have time to contact two Fayette County residents and have them travel to Frankfort to sign her filing papers by the 4 p.m. deadline on Jan. 30, Wilkie alleges. The people who signed Thurston’s filing papers were Lexington residents Bradford Queen, director of communications in the secretary’s office, and Matt Daley, an assistant to Grimes. Mary Sue Helm, director of administration in the secretary’s office, acted as a notary, according to the complaint.
Thurston “had no option other than to misuse, solely, ‘state time, equipment, personnel, facilities’ and ‘other resources’ to file as a candidate” in the judge’s race, the ethics complaint said. The use of other people in the secretary of state’s office to assist in filing papers was an abuse of personnel, time and resources, Wilkie alleges.
Political activity is not allowed on state time and non-merit employees are not to engage in any political campaign-related activity while in their offices or on duty.
“Lindsay was the assistant secretary of state,” Wilkie said. “She sees that she can’t get anybody from Lexington, so while working as a public servant, she rounds up the director of communications and the director of the assistant to the secretary of state, and that basically becomes Lindsay Hughes Thurston’s headquarters central between 3 and 4 o’clock.”
Thurston said the act of filing papers is not campaigning.
“Filing a notice of intent to run in an election is not a campaign activity,” she said.
Furthemore, “When I switched races, I thought I’d be running against Chris,” Thurston said. “…On Jan. 30, in my opinion, he (Kim Wilkie) signaled his seat was open when Chris jumped in.
“I think the voters should always have a choice. Had I not stepped in to that race, they would not have had a choice,” Thurston added. “…A judgeship is not something that is inheritable.”
Kim Wilkie contends that he never intended to retire, but posed a choice to his son once Thurston had filed.
Kim Wilkie said he told his son: “If you want to run, I’ll drop out and you can run against Lindsay. If you don’t want to run, you drop out and I’m in. We’ve got to make a decision. One of us needs to withdraw.”
Chris Wilkie withdrew as a candidate so his name will not appear on the ballot. Kim Wilkie said there was “nothing illegal” about this. “We didn’t do anything wrong,” he said.
Asked why he didn’t file an ethics complaint against Thurston months ago rather than earlier this month, days before the election, Kim Wilkie said: “I’ve been working on this all summer long. She’s violated every code possible.”
Wilkie said he is the best candidate because “I follow the law. I’m not a political appointee. I don’t owe anything to anybody. …I’m going to call ’em like I see ’em. …I’m going to do my job and do it the right way.”
Wilkie points to his work with a treatment court for people with diagnosed mental illnesses, which he calls the most important thing he has done in his legal career. Participants agree to a two-year prison diversion program that focuses on treatment and recovery instead of jail time.
“We’re getting the individuals in there who have been given up on,” Wilkie said.
Thurston, an assistant county attorney from 2004 to 2008, said she would be willing to take over mental health court if she is elected.
Thurston said she is the best candidate “because first, there need to be more women represented on the benches. I think I have the credentials and the work ethic and the commitment.”
“I’m also out there earning it,” Thurston said. “From the day my candidacy launched, I have been out in my community at countless events. I’ve been knocking on doors. I’ve been working very hard for this. It’s not something I expect to be handed to me. It’s not something I expect to fall in my lap.”
Wilkie acknowledged that aside from appearing at forums, he has not been going out to solicit votes.
Thurston has raised $36,833.47 and spent $18,761.79, according to the website for the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance. Wilkie has not filed election finance reports because he initially expressed an intention to not raise more than $3,000. In an interview, he said he has since paid about $3,000 for campaign signs.
The Fraternal Order of Police Bluegrass Lodge 4 and Town Branch Lodge 83 endorsed Thurston. Wilkie said the FOP endorsed her because her husband is a retired Lexington police detective.
Thurston has also been endorsed by the International Association of Fire Fighters, the People’s Campaign, the Building Trades Council, and C-Fair, the political action committee of Kentucky’s LGBTQ Fairness Campaign.
District court handles, among other matters, misdemeanors, traffic offenses, probate of wills, juvenile cases, small claims involving $2,500 or less and civil cases involving $5,000 or less.
District judges serve four-year terms and make $115,485 a year.
Kim Wilkie
Date of birth: Oct. 28, 1949
Education: Bachelor’s degree in English and political science, University of Kentucky, 1975; law degree, UK, 1981
Occupation: Fayette district judge
Elected office: Elected district judge in 2010
Family: Wife, Donna; two children
Website: facebook.com/wilkieforjudge
Lindsay Hughes Thurston
Date of birth: July 13, 1978
Education: Bachelor’s degree in political science from Stephens College in Columbia, Mo., 1999; law degree from University of Kentucky, 2003.
Occupation: Senior adviser in the Kentucky Secretary of State’s Office
Elected office: None.
Family: Husband, John.
Website: lindsayforjudge.com
This story was originally published October 31, 2018 at 4:18 PM with the headline "Candidates for judge trade accusations about shady moves to get on the Fayette ballot."