Kentucky attorney general candidate Daniel Cameron beat back a lawsuit on Thursday brought by a retired labor union leader seeking to remove him from the November ballot.
The suit claimed Cameron, a Republican, hadn’t practiced law for eight years as required under section 92 of the state constitution.
Cameron, who obtained his law license in October 2011, testified in court this week that working as a law clerk for a federal judge for his first two years fulfilled the prerequisite.
Jefferson Circuit Judge Barry Willett, in a 10-page decision, concurred with Cameron’s attorneys, saying state courts as far back as 1937 have had a liberal interpretation of the requirement. He said the courts have long established a “practicing lawyer” is a licensed individual who provides service with legal knowledge or advice.
“The court finds that Mr. Cameron will have been a licensed lawyer for more than eight years by the time of the general election,” Willett said.`
Willett also pointed out how the plaintiff’s attorneys did not question if Cameron was a practicing lawyer when he worked as general counsel for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for two years. He said there was “no meaningful distinction” between Cameron’s roles as a federal judicial law clerk and McConnell’s lawyer.
“In fact, a federal judicial law clerk provides legal services to his or her judge requiring an extraordinary level of legal research and analysis,” Willett said.
The suit was brought by Louisville resident Joseph Jackson, who serves as a vice president of Local 576, which has endorsed Democrat Greg Stumbo in the attorney general’s race.
In a statement Thursday, Cameron said his opponent’s fingerprints were all over the suit to get him kicked off the ballot.
“I’m not surprised we won but I’m thrilled to put this frivolous lawsuit behind us,” Cameron said. “It’s sad that Greg Stumbo stooped to this level. He can’t win an election straight up so he tried and failed to cheat us off the ballot.”
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The Stumbo campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment about today’s ruling.
But the Democratic Attorney Generals Association, which is supporting Stumbo’s bid, said in a statement the ruling fuels concerns about Cameron’s lack of experience.
“This process put a microscope on Cameron’s limited career with no experience in court,” said Sean Rankin, the group’s executive director. “Voters took notice — and what they see is someone who could barely make it onto the ballot and someone who lacks enough experience to do the job of attorney general.”
Stumbo, 67, a former attorney general and House speaker, has made the 33-year-old Cameron’s age and legal work history a centerpiece of his attacks.
But Cameron, who is running to be Kentucky’s first black attorney general, said the suit will be seen as a bare naked attempt to distract voters.
“For someone who talks about experience all the time it is funny that Stumbo and his cronies don’t understand the law,” he said. “But this was never about the law, it was always about politics. We are leading in the polls and leading in fundraising and we’ve got Stumbo on the ropes, so who knows what other nonsense he’ll try.”
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Written by Phillip M. Bailey. Cross-posted from the
Courier-Journal via the Kentucky Press News Service.