With Election Day just a few days away and following the untimely death of State Senator Johnnie L. Turner of Harlan, two candidates emerged on Wednesday to run as write in candidates for the State Senate seat left open with the passing of Senator Turner.
Those two candidates are Knott County businessman and former Judge Executive Randy Thompson, and Willie Crase, a Floyd County businessman.
However, earlier this afternoon the KY Secretary of State’s office declared Thompson ineligible to run as a write in candidate based on KRS statute 117.125, subsection 1.
“Any candidate for city, county, urban county, consolidated local government, charter county government, or unified local government office who is defeated in a partisan or nonpartisan primary shall be ineligible as a candidate for the same office in the regular election.”
He was declared ineligible because he lost to incumbent Senator Turner in the May Primary.
Senator Turner tragically passed away earlier this week due to complications from a lawn mower accident on September 15th.
No one can be appointed to finish his term because his term officially ends this year.
Turner was running unopposed for re-election to the 29th District Senate Seat which includes Letcher, Knott, Floyd, Bell and Harlan Counties.
Independent challenger David Suhr dropped out of the race earlier this month.
Thompson told WYMT that he still plans to file for write-in candidacy.
He added he believes the rule does not apply to him because his intentions were not to run in November but this is an unprecedented situation.
“When Senator Turner tragically passed away my phone was bombarded with people reaching out to me because I had come in second in the Primary Election and asking me to take up the gauntlet and move forward with it,” Randy Thompson said.
The deadline to file for write-in candidacy is Friday Oct. 25 at 4:00pm.