Ky. Senator Seated Despite Concerns

[JMac]

FRANKFORT, Ky. - The Republican candidate in a disputed election was sworn in Friday as the newest member of the Kentucky Senate, even though a judge ruled she did not meet the state's residency requirements. One GOP senator threatened to resign in protest.

Dana Seum Stephenson, 32, lived in Indiana from 1997 to 2000, but the Kentucky Constitution requires that senators live in the state for at least six years before an election.

Brushing aside such concerns, the Republican-dominated Senate swore in Stephenson and defeated along party lines a committee's recommendation that Democrat Virginia Woodward be declared the winner of the Louisville district.

Senate President David Williams said he was confident the Senate had the power to determine its own membership. He said, for example, that the Senate could have a 23-year-old lawmaker, even though the constitution says senators must be at least 30.

On Election Day, Stephenson received 22,772 votes to Woodward's 21,750 votes, according to unofficial returns. At a judge's urging, the State Board of Elections certified Woodward the winner, and she took the oath of office on Jan. 1. But Stephenson asked the Senate to decide the race.

More: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=616&ncid=703&e=7&u=/ap/20050108/ap_on_el_st_lo/kentucky_election

[StClone]

1. As Paul Krugman writes

Iokiyar: it's O.K. if you're a Republican.

[KatieB]

2. Kick

[Lostnote03]

3. This is the current state of

....the body politik in KY.....The GOP is treating the issue of residency as a technicality rather than the rule.....screw the KY GOP and their off spring as well.....

[Wilms]

4. Looks like DC might be the only place they forgot to rig. n/t

[Pacifist Patriot]

5. I'd bet my last dollar that if the roles had been reversed.

The GOP wouldn't have let a Dem winner take a seat if he/she hadn't fulfilled residency requirements. This is bullshit!