Through legal representation, newly elected 13th District Representative Jim Glenn filed an answer to DJ Johnson’s request for verification of election results last week. Johnson’s challenge was sent to the House of Representatives, where five to nine House members will sit on a commission to hear the appeal and make a ruling.
Glenn’s response outlined several issues with Johnson’s request, the first being the statute for which Johnson cited to the House.
According to Glenn’s Frankfort-based attorney Anna Stewart Whites, Kentucky Revised Statute 120.195 has not been used in the thirty years she has been practicing law. Whites said typical recourse in a contested election would involve a recount action in circuit court. The candidate requesting the recount is responsible for all associated costs Whites said, which can sometimes add up to $30,000.
“DJ is saying he couldn’t afford that,” Whites said, adding that one of her questions to the House is if the financial burden of Johnson’s request falls on the taxpayers or Glenn, either of which is an unfair burden in her opinion.
Whites also claims that Johnson has hired attorneys who work for the state Republican party and the House Republican legislature.
“They are not allowed to politic while on the clock as a state employee,” Whites said.
Whites filed an open records request Monday for time and payroll records of Johnson’s attorneys. They subsequently withdrew themselves from the case, according to Whites.
Whites said it is her understanding that Johnson has requested that the absentee ballots of the 13th District be recounted by the House committee. Absentee ballots are counted by the county board of elections, which Whites said is both impartial and trained. The five to nine House members of the committee will not be trained in the same manner and will be randomly drawn, therefore could be of either political party.
“This is not the way to do it,” Whites said. “Citizens deserve to have their vote be private.”
In a press release released Monday, Johnson said his challenge of the one-vote margin in the 13th District race “has never been about contesting the results; it has always been about confirming them and making sure every vote is counted and counted correctly.”
Johnson responded specifically to the question of his legal representation, saying that if changing his legal representation “alleviates the concerns of even one of my constituents then that is what I will do, but rest assured, I am doing it for them and not because of the wild claims and accusations made by my opponent’s attorneys which are based on either a misreading or blatant misrepresentation of the law.”
Johnson said that Glenn and his attorney have “attempted to corrupt this process and cast doubt upon the impartiality of the only outlet the law provides”
“[Glenn’s] accusations are unfounded and show a blatant disrespect for the very institution in which he strives to serve,” the press release stated.
Whites said the House majority has not answered as to whether they will seat Glenn when the legislature resumes in January. Johnson said, to seat the commission who will review his request, the General Assembly has to be in session, which he says will not happen until Jan. 8.
