Eric Deters trying to kick Republican U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie off the ballot

Controversial Northern Kentucky attorney and political candidate Eric Deters said he filed legal documents Wednesday against U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie to get him kicked off the Republican primary ballot – and Deters is not stopping there.

He’s also trying to get Republican Theodore “TJ” Roberts, who is running for state representative, booted from the ballot. His home's District 66 covers a large part of northern Boone County, a staunchly Republican area that overwhelming voted for former President Donald Trump in both of the past two presidential elections.

Deters is running against longtime incumbent Massie for U.S. representative in a district that covers 21 counties, nearly all situated in the broader northern Kentucky area. The candidate is not shy about saying Massie's removal from office will directly benefit him.

"Be kind of nice to beat ol’ Massie without even an election. I admit it," he said in one of the videos he posted Wednesday to Facebook where he called his opponent "nasty Massie" and said Roberts is a "little nimrod do-nothing."

Here’s what to know about why Deters is calling for both candidates to be removed from the ballot, based on his social media posts. A copy of the filing was not immediately available Wednesday night.

Deters accuses Roberts of lying about his address in filing

Roberts’ home, where he allegedly lived with his grandparents, burned down in the spring of 2023.

He said in a Facebook post that nobody was injured in the fire, though he and his family have been through “nothing short of hell” since then. The home has since been rebuilt, he added.

Meanwhile, Roberts lived somewhere else – Deters' posts said he didn't know where – while the home was under construction.

Deters' legal action accuses Roberts of lying about his address when he filed to run, putting the address of his burned-down home as his place of residence, where he could not have legally lived at the time because it was being repaired and did not have an occupancy license.

That, he said, invalidates Roberts’ petition to run for state representative.

Roberts is running against former Republican state representative Ed Massey, who was booted from office after a slew of right-wing candidates successfully challenged incumbents in the 2022 primary.

“The lawsuit, filed one day after my opponent launched his first personal attack against me, asserts brazenly false claims and misrepresents the law,” Roberts said in a Facebook post Wednesday. “It is reminiscent of the illegal efforts to ruin former President Donald Trump through lawfare and disqualify him.”

Roberts said he will fight for his right to stay on the ballot.

What’s this got to do with Massie?

Roberts was a signatory on Massie’s candidate filing on Dec. 18, 2023.

According to court documents Deters posted online, Roberts stated his address as the same one on his own filing – the one where his house burned down.

In Kentucky, a candidate running for office must have two voters who live in the same district sign their filing form.

Deters said that means Roberts' signature was invalid, disqualifying Massie from running for reelection.

In a statement to The Enquirer, Massie said, “After his (Deters’) disastrous failed gubernatorial campaign, he has apparently convinced himself that the only way he can win an election is by employing the same kind of dirty tricks the Left is currently attempting to keep Donald Trump off the ballot."

What's the history between these candidates?

Both Deters and Massie are rabble-rousers who have made a lot of headlines over the years.

Massie doesn’t hesitate to go against the grain of the national Republican party. He was one of a handful of congressional members to publicly support former presidential candidate Ron DeSantis instead of Donald Trump.

He’s active and controversial on X, formerly known as Twitter. And last year he made a custom U.S. debt ticker that he pinned to his lapel and wore to the State of the Union address.

Deters hosts an event called Freedom Fest at his Morning View farm, located about 45 minutes south of Cincinnati. The ultraconservative event has drawn in at least 10,000 attendees and has featured speakers like Eric and Donald Trump Jr.

Deters ran for Kentucky governor last year and got 5.8% of the vote in the primary. He also hosts an online commentary show. Deters has had a slew of legal troubles – most recently he pleaded guilty to menacing his teenage nephew.

Roberts is a lesser-known candidate and attorney. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, he attended church on Easter Sunday and later sued Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear after Kentucky state troopers issued notices of quarantine on their cars and threatened legal action against the church-goers.

Why does this matter?

Kentucky voters kind of move to the beat of their drum, while nationally there are bright lines between red and blue voters regardless of the issue.

For instance, Kentuckians favored Trump over candidate Hillary Clinton and now-President Joe Biden in the last two presidential elections. But voters reelected Beshear, a Democrat, last year.

Additionally, Kentucky lawmakers pass some of the most conservative laws in the country. Last year, lawmakers passed a law that banned gender-affirming care for minors, prohibiting minors from using bathrooms that align with their identity and changing the way counselors can help children.

But on the issue of abortion, Kentuckians voted against a constitutional amendment that would have banned any constitutional protections for abortion. Meanwhile, abortion is illegal in the state with limited exceptions.

Still, Massie is an outlier in the state. The six-term member of the House hails from Garrison, Kentucky, located almost two hours southeast of Cincinnati. He describes himself as a “libertarian-leaning Republican” and shakes things up among congressional Republicans.

If he’s disqualified from the ballot, Deters will likely win in the May 21 primary against a third Republican running for Congress, a relatively unknown candidate named Michael McGinnis.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Eric Deters is trying to get Thomas Massie, TJ Roberts off ballot.