By Charles Wolfe
The Associated Press

FRANKFORT - Republican gubernatorial candidate Ernie Fletcher can remain on the primary election ballot with a new running mate, a judge ruled Friday.

He rejected an attempt by the rival slate of Steve Nunn and Bob Heleringer to have Fletcher declared ineligible because his original running mate, Hunter Bates, was disqualified for failing to meet Kentucky residency requirements.

The rivals, in a court action that was filed only in Heleringer's name, contended that Fletcher could not pick his new running mate, former U.S. Attorney Steve Pence, because the candidate filing deadline passed Jan. 28.

In a separate case, a judge in Oldham County ruled on March 26 that Bates was ineligible because the Kentucky Constitution requires candidates for governor and lieutenant governor to be residents of the state for six years prior to election.

Bates had spent most of the last six years in Arlington, Va., while working in a Washington law firm and later on the staff of U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

Heleringer twice sought injunctions that would have had the effect of knocking Fletcher off the ballot and out of the race.

He contended that, because Kentucky now requires candidates for governor and lieutenant governor to run as a slate, Fletcher rendered himself ineligible by registering with an ineligible running mate. But the ruling by Franklin County Circuit Judge William L. Graham said that Heleringer failed to prove that Fletcher was aware that Bates failed to meet requirements.

"We do not find from the evidence any facts indicating that Fletcher acted in bad faith with respect to the qualifications of Bates to hold the office of lieutenant governor," Graham's ruling said. "The disqualification of Bates only came after a contested hearing and court order" in Oldham County Circuit Court.

One of Heleringer's attorneys, Tom Hectus of Louisville, said Heleringer would appeal the ruling to the state Court of Appeals. But Fletcher's campaign manager, Daniel Groves, said Graham had given "a resounding affirmation" that Fletcher "acted in complete good faith in his running mate selection."

In Graham's courtroom, Fletcher testified Thursday that he did not personally verify that Bates met residency requirements to be lieutenant governor.

Fletcher said he left that to others, mostly to Bates himself, who consulted with attorneys and became convinced of his own eligibility.

"I felt and still feel comfortable with the opinion he gave and I relied on," Fletcher, the 6th District congressman, said in just over an hour of testimony.

Bates is a native of Whitley County and protege of McConnell.