Republican state Rep. Adam Thomas is asking a judge to dismiss a civil lawsuit challenging his election to the House District 26 seat last year.
Thomas’ lawyer, Mike Kuckelman, filed a motion late last week asking a judge to throw out the contest of Thomas’ election.
The motion argues that the lawsuit — brought by residents who live in Thomas’ House district — has sat idle without meeting the deadlines set out by state law.
Kuckelman argued in his motion that state law required a hearing to be held on the lawsuit within 20 days of when it was filed, last Dec. 10. The hearing should have been held no later than Dec. 30, the motion said.
“Contestants have wholly failed to prosecute this case,” he argued.
Kuckelman said the law requires that the lawsuit be dismissed if it’s not executed within the 20 days provided by the statute.
The contest of Thomas’ election centered on where he lived when he filed to run for the Kansas House in May 2018.
Thomas won his race against Democrat Deann Mitchell despite facing a charge of election perjury for allegedly misrepresenting where he lived when he filed to run for the Legislature. He won the race by more than 1,000 votes.
A state elections panel set aside a challenge to Thomas’ legal residency in Olathe last September. Thomas has since received diversion on the perjury charge.
The election perjury charge will be dropped if Thomas fully complies with the conditions of the diversion agreement, court records show.
He is required to perform 150 hours of community service, none of which can be done in conjunction with his duties as a lawmaker, a campaign for public office or any other political activities.
Kuckelman’s motion also argued that it was unclear whether the residents were challenging the August 2018 primary in which Thomas emerged as the GOP nominee.
To the extent that they challenged the primary, Kuckelman argued that the lawsuit failed to meet the deadline set by law.
To challenge the primary nomination for a state officer, the objection had to be filed within three days of when the certificate of nomination was issued, which was Sept. 4. The election contest was not filed until Dec. 10.
Kuckelman also argued that the objection had to be filed with the secretary of state’s office, not the Johnson County District Court.
He also noted that the State Objections Board decided in September to keep Thomas on the ballot, a decision that, under state law, was final.
The residents are scheduled to file their response to the motion by Aug. 7. An hourlong hearing is set for Sept. 11 on the request.
