Boone County state officials and local branches of both the Republican and Democratic Parties are weighing on the recent appointments of three men – John Mefford, Doug Bine and George Eldridge – to the Union City Commission following an election challenge arising from wrongful ballot distributions at two Union precincts in November.
The responses range from outright condemnation to qualified acceptance. The appointments saw the passing over of Eric Dulaney and Brian Garner, both of whom won seats on the local government, according to the results of the November general election before the Boone County Circuit Court voided the election.
“While I respect the court’s decision to follow the legal remedy outlined in statute, which allows appointment rather than a new election, I believe that this may not be the best way to serve the will of the voters,” wrote Kentucky Rep. Marianne Proctor, a Republican from Union, in an email statement. “Moving forward, I am committed to working with my colleagues to address this statute that gives the mayor the power to appoint with no oversight.”
Proctor’s statement reflects the attitudes of many Republican leaders in the area: It’s good that the court followed the law, even if the remedy for the election troubles didn’t necessarily reflect the desires of local voters.
Boone County Circuit Court Judge Richard Brueggemann ousted all members of the Union City Commission, except the mayor, on Jan. 31 following a court battle that began shortly after the general election in November.
The legal proceedings stem from reports of wrong ballot distributions at two Union precincts on Election Day. The elections that were affected included the race for the city commission seats and the medical cannabis ballot question.
Following reports from voters, the County Clerk Justin Crigler’s office filed a petition for a recount on Nov. 8. Brueggemann rejected this as “futile” for determining the scale of the disenfranchisement that may have occurred and later granted Bine leave to levy a challenge against the election.
The Board of Elections certified the election results on Nov. 15. Bine, who lost his bid for reelection, according to the election results before the court case, filed a challenge to the election on Dec. 4.
After several hearings, both sides submitted briefs to the court suggesting a remedy to the election troubles on Monday, Jan. 27. Jeff Mando, the attorney representing Crigler and the Board of Elections, argued for an ouster and new appointments. Bine and his attorney, Steve Megerle, argued for a new election.
Bruegemann, in his final judgment, made the case that the court was constrained by law in how it could deal with the election troubles, arguing that the statute mandated the mayor appoint new members, rather than calling a special election.
Former Union City Commissioner Jeremy Ramage, who won in November, according to the election results before the ouster, vacated his seat on the commission for 2025 in December.
Mayor Larry Solomon and Mefford had pitched the idea of filling the empty seat with Bine in early January in the midst of the court proceedings, but Dulaney and Garner both voted the idea down, leading to a tie vote in the four-member commission at the time.
Ties count as a ‘no’ when there’s an even number of people on the commission and no mechanism to break a tie.
According to the results of the now-voided election, Garner barely beat out Bine. Yet, Dulaney walked away with the second-highest number of votes after Mefford, so last week’s appointments came as a surprise to many city residents.
Solomon, as well as Bine and his attorney attributed Garner and Dulaney’s failure to garner appointments to their unwillingness to entertain the proposed appointment in January.
“We respect Judge Richard Brueggemann for following the letter of the law in his ruling voiding the election results but also believe that the spirit of the law was not to disenfranchise or void the will of the voters,” wrote the Boone County Republicans in an email. “The [Boone County Republican Party] strongly condemns the actions of Mayor Larry Solomon in his choice to reject votes legitimately cast for candidates on the ballot and his subsequent appointments of hand-picked individuals.”
Kentucky Sen. Steve Rawlings, a Republican from Burlington whose district includes Union, expressed similar sentiments.
“I stand by and support the holding by Judge Brueggemann and the actions of our county clerk,” Rawlings said. “However, I was disappointed to hear the news about the appointments to the Union City Commission. Although the appointments were legal according to the governing statute, I would like to have seen a more democratic result, such as those who received the most votes getting appointed despite the wrongful ballot distributions.”
Proctor, Rawlings and the local Republicans all expressed a commitment to election integrity, and granted that the election troubles arose not from malice or fraud but from mistakes.
The Boone County Democrats, on the other hand, were much more outspoken in their displeasure at the appointments.
In a statement on social media on Thursday, the party characterized the appointments as a “Direct Attack on Voter Rights (sic).”
“The Boone County Democratic Party strongly condemns the recent appointment of Union City Commissioners, a brazen act of voter suppression that disregards the will of the people and undermines the fundamental principles of free and fair elections,” the statement reads, adding that a special election would have been the ideal remedy.
Garner was the lone Democrat on the former commission, and the party went on to characterize the appointments as a “power grab,” although they granted that the election troubles arose from error, not graft, much like the Republican officials.
“Qualified candidates who followed the rules, ran legitimate campaigns, and earned voter support were completely disregarded,” the statement goes on to say. “This is an outright disenfranchisement of every voter in Union who expected a fair resolution that respected their choices.”
Everyone either advocated for changes at the state-level or said they would work with state officials to preserve election integrity.
All but one of the seats on the city commission have been filled, and the city is currently accepting applications for the fifth and final seat. Based on statements from last week’s commission meeting, the new commission plans to announce the appointee to the final seat at the next meeting of the Union City Commission on Wednesday, Feb. 19.