LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) – A Kentucky judge has ruled that a runner-up for a county race will move on to the general election after the candidate who received the most votes died.
News outlets report that Judge Phillip Shepherd ruled Monday that attorney Karen Faulkner will replace Danny Alvarez on the ballot this November. The 43-year-old Alvarez collapsed and died in May, the day after he won the most votes in the Jefferson County District Court judge race.
Faulkner would’ve been excluded from the ballot as it was reserved for the top two candidates. Alvarez’s death would’ve left attorney Tanisha Ann Hickerson as the only candidate. Faulkner took the state Board of Elections to court over the decision.
Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes now must issue a certificate of nomination for Faulkner.
