Move Kentucky's primary election to August? Louisville lawmaker says it may be necessary.

Rep. Jerry Miller, R-Louisville, has tentatively proposed pushing Kentucky's primary election back nearly three months, in what he says is a preparatory move in case Republicans' redistricting plans get tied up in court.

The primary is set for May 17, with the filing deadline for candidates — which was already rescheduled once — fast approaching on Jan. 25.

Miller's new legislation, House Bill 323, would delay the primary to Aug. 2 and also would set a new filing deadline for candidates on May 31.

However, he told The Courier Journal Thursday he doesn't expect his proposal to advance unless his party's redistricting plans get stymied by litigation. He'd heard a lawsuit challenging aspects of the Republican-crafted redistricting maps could be in the works, but as of that morning one hadn't been filed — though that changed by the end of the day.

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"I told a candidate this morning I would operate as if this doesn’t happen," he said. "We don't even know if there’s a suit yet, and I would hope that the courts would expeditiously address something as important as redistricting."

Late Thursday afternoon, the Kentucky Democratic Party announced it's suing over the redistricting maps for Kentucky's six seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and for the state House of Representatives.

Miller and his fellow Republican lawmakers are in full control of the state's redistricting process for the first time ever, thanks to their supermajority control of the legislature.

On Wednesday, Gov. Andy Beshear vetoed the Kentucky House and congressional plans, which have been sharply criticized by Democratic lawmakers and groups like the League of Women Voters of Kentucky. But Republican lawmakers overrode both those vetoes Thursday.

More: Here's the Kentucky Senate GOP's plan to redo congressional districts, including John Yarmuth's

A lawsuit challenging the legality of Republicans' redistricting plans, however, potentially could put those new maps on ice while a court considers the case. The Kentucky Democratic Party and its fellow plaintiffs in this new lawsuit want the Franklin Circuit Court to prevent the May primary election from being conducted based on these Republican-drawn districts.

Miller said Thursday he expects his proposal to delay the primary election will lay dormant in the legislature unless litigation over redistricting drags on past early March.

He hopes the courts would move swiftly to resolve any litigation, since it's an election year and political candidates need to know the boundary lines of the districts so they can be sure they're eligible to represent them.

As for why he proposed shifting the primary to August, Miller said: "There was a time when we had our primaries in August, so it’s kind of like as late as you can make a primary and still get everything resolved for the general (election)."

Morgan Watkins is The Courier Journal's chief political reporter. Contact her at mwatkins@courierjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter: @morganwatkins26.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville lawmaker proposes delaying KY primary election to August