Kentucky lawmakers pass bill requiring special elections for some open Metro Council seats

Both chambers of the Kentucky General Assembly have approved a bill requiring special elections for vacant Louisville Metro Council seats in certain cases.

The state Senate and House of Representatives unanimously approved Wednesday and Thursday the slightly-amended House Bill 191 from state Rep. Jared Bauman, R-Louisville, which requires a special election to fill an open Metro Council seat if the vacancy occurs over three months before a regular election.

It now goes to Gov. Andy Beshear's desk.

The bill, which had a bipartisan array of sponsors who represent Jefferson County and its surrounding counties, says a special election must take place 60 days after a Metro Council seat becomes vacant.

The legislation also clarifies that a qualified candidate can run not only with a Democrat or Republican designation but also as an independent or a "member of another political organization."

A proposed amendment from state Sen. David Yates, a Louisville Democrat who previously served on Metro Council, to have runoffs in the special elections was struck down in a voice vote.

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If the vacancy happens less than three months before the next regular election, the Metro Council president and his colleagues will continue the practice — which is spelled out in the Kentucky Constitution — of appointing a qualified resident of the district to serve the remainder of the term.

Some officials and residents had critiqued the current appointment process, in which current Metro Council members, rather than voters, choose the new member for an open seat, as "anti-democratic."

The bill also says if the open seat had a term continuing past the start of January following the next regular election, and if the vacancy occurs less than three months before that regular election, the open seat will get filled via the regular election.

For example, the even-numbered districts of the 26-member Metro Council are up for election in 2024, while odd-numbered districts are on the ballot in 2026.

If an odd-numbered seat opened up this year − less than three months before the regular November election − the special election would happen at the same time as the regular election. In that scenario, the bill says candidates for full terms "shall be grouped together, and candidates for unexpired terms shall be grouped together, under appropriate headings, so that the voter may easily distinguish the candidates for full terms from the candidates for unexpired terms."

This year, Metro Council has seen three vacancies due to Keisha Dorsey and David James joining Mayor Craig Greenberg's administration and Cassie Chambers Armstrong winning a special state Senate election.

Kumar Rashad and Phillip Baker were appointed to the District 3 and District 6 seats held by Dorsey and James, respectively, while Metro Council was set to appoint Thursday the new member for Armstrong's open District 8 seat.

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“This year alone we have filled two vacancies by appointment, leaving almost 50,000 people out of the process entirely," Bauman said in February when he introduced the bill. "Those who live in Metro Louisville should have the opportunity to choose their elected representatives. This is a basic and fundamental promise of our government."

"I have no issue with putting the decision in the hands of voters," Metro Council President Markus Winkler, D-17th, told The Courier Journal in February. "I do have a concern when Louisville is singled out for legislative action. Doesn’t this same issue exist for all offices across the state? If so, shouldn’t a change like this apply to every elected office?"

Stephen Haag, director of the Metro Council's Minority Caucus, which is made up of nine Republicans, told The Courier Journal last month the GOP members "support anything that helps bring the decision process closer to the people of the District that are affected by the vacancy."

"We have previously taken efforts to move the replacement process to a vote of the people, through Metro Council resolutions, but it is our understanding that those proposed laws have met legal roadblocks at the state," Haag added. "Support to change the process for filling a Metro vacancy has been led by members of both parties and includes the passage of a resolution in 2018 calling for a change in the process."

Joe Sonka contributed to this story. Reach Billy Kobin at bkobin@courierjournal.com

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky lawmakers pass Louisville Metro Council special election bill