Free Republic

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - A Republican candidate for lieutenant governor said Thursday he would step aside after a judge ruled he had not lived in Kentucky long enough to run for the state's second-highest office. Hunter Bates has been the running mate of Ernie Fletcher, a congressman and a leading GOP candidate for governor. Bates, 35, has spent most of the last six years in a Virginia suburb of Washington, D.C. The state constitution requires candidates for lieutenant governor to live in Kentucky for six years preceding an election. Bates, a former chief of staff to Sen. Mitch McConnell , has...

<p>FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Hunter Bates, running mate of Republican gubernatorial candidate Ernie Fletcher, has not lived in Kentucky long enough to qualify as a candidate, a judge ruled today.</p> <p>The ruling by Oldham County Circuit Judge Paul Rosenblum said Bates' name must be removed from the ballot for the May 20 primary election.</p>

FRANKFORT - U.S. Rep. Ernie Fletcher of Lexington officially launched his campaign for governor yesterday and tapped Hunter Bates, an aide to U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, to be his running mate in next year's Republican primary election. The move signaled a potentially heated Republican primary next spring, and disappointed state Rep. Steve Nunn, a Glasgow Republican who also plans to run for governor. Nunn said McConnell had told him he would remain neutral in the GOP primary, but Fletcher's selection of Bates "gives the appearance that McConnell is right in the middle of all this, and it's contrary to what...

FLETCHER TO ANNOUNCE RUN FOR GOVERNOR & LT. GOVERNOR CANDIDATE Lexington, KY: Congressman Ernie Fletcher will announce his run for Governor and choice for Lieutenant Governor candidate Monday December 2, 2002 in Room 316 of the Kentucky State Capitol. Listed below is a detailed schedule of Congressman Fletcher’s announcements on Monday December 2nd. Monday December 2, 2002 9:30 – 10:00 AM – Announcement State Capitol Room #316 – 3rd Floor Frankfort, Kentucky 11:00 – 11:30 AM - Announcement Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport ComAir Aviation Lobby Area 2042 Tower Drive Hebron, Kentucky 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM - Announcement Taylor County...