I can’t believe they actually did it.

If you don’t live in Kentucky, you’re almost certainly unaware of this story (and likely won’t care about the rest of this entry), but in the November elections, Republican candidate Dana Seum Stephenson defeated Democrat Virginia Woodward by over a thousand votes for the 37th District state Senate seat. The 37th District is Jefferson County, which is now effectively metro Louisville.

The only problem was that from 1997 until December of 2000, Stephenson lived in Jeffersonville, Indiana. She owned a house there. She paid Indiana taxes and voted in two Indiana elections. According to the Kentucky constitution, you must be a legal resident of Kentucky for six years before you’re eligible to run for state Senate; Stephenson was three years short.

The news about Stephenson’s residency issues only came out close to Election Day, when she was already on the ballot. She dismissed the whole thing, saying she had remained a resident of Kentucky the whole time because she “always intended to return.” She pretty clearly won the popular election. It was only a couple weeks ago that a judge ruled that she wasn’t eligible to run in the first place. The judge refused to issue an order for Stephenson to concede, however, passing the buck to the Senate.

They took it, appointing a special committee to determine the issue. That committee recommended, 5-4, that Stephenson be rejected and Woodward seated.

You have likely guessed by now that last night, the Senate ignored the constitution, the judge’s ruling and their own committee, voting 20-16 straight down party lines to swear in Stephenson. One Republican, Bob Leeper of Paducah, abstained and announced he’d be drafting a letter of resignation (he later said he’d decide for sure “within a few days”).

The other Republican abstention was, presumably, Stephenson’s dad, Senator Dan Seum of Louisville. He’d earlier stated he was going to abstain, at least, so good for him, I guess. Oh, and by the way, this state is currently running without a budget.

KENTUCKY.