Kentucky candidate filing deadline officially moved back to Jan. 25
The first bill signed into law by Gov. Andy Beshear during the 2022 General Assembly on Thursday was under a tight deadline.
The filing deadline for all Kentucky legislative candidates – state, local and federal – was just one day away on Friday, Jan. 7. With the bill fast-tracked through the legislature’s chambers and now with Beshear’s signature, the deadline is now Jan. 25.
A spokesperson for Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams confirmed that the deadline push applies to all election deadlines in the state.
The bill pushing back the deadline had strong bipartisan support, a contrast to fierce debate over new redistricting bills in both the House and Senate.
Democrats in both chambers protested the fairness of newly-drawn legislative maps in those bills – House Bill 2 as well as Senate Bills 2 and 3.
House Democrats challenged how elections would negatively impact them in the new map, which the House passed 71-19 on Thursday. Republicans currently have a 75-24 majority in that chamber.
House Minority Leader Joni Jenkins released the Democrats plan, which she said featured eight fewer Republican-leaning districts and eight more competitive districts.
In the Senate, a Republican took up much of the air in challenging the Senate and U.S. Congressional District maps.
Sen. Adrienne Southworth, R-Lawrenceburg, filed multiple floor amendments to the Senate map and questioned the Congressional District map.
A key criticism from Southworth included the vast reshaping of her own Senate District 7, which retains only her home Anderson County and loses Woodford, Franklin, Owen and Gallatin Counties.
“My constituents are totally torn up,” Southworth said during committee. “I’m losing 100,000 of them in all different directions.”
Southworth also questioned why Fayette County lost a senate district entirely within its boundaries and the shape of Congressional District 1, which extends all the way from the westernmost tip of the state through Anderson County to Franklin County.
None of Southworth’s floor amendments were taken up in the Senate. The bill passed the Senate 28-4.
The House also passed a bill 81-2 redistricting the Kentucky Supreme Court and Court of Appeals districts, which greatly increases the size of Eastern Kentucky’s 7th District and reduces the size of districts in Central and Northern Kentucky. Rep. Joseph Fischer, R-Ft. Thomas, abstained from voting because he’s running for a Supreme Court seat in Northern Kentucky.
The Senate and House plan to take up each other’s plans and send them to the governor’s desk by Saturday.
