Judge disqualifies Republican Senate candidate November 22, 2004 LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- A judge on Monday disqualified the apparent winner of a disputed state Senate election, ruling that she had not lived in Kentucky long enough to meet residency requirements. Jefferson County Circuit Judge Barry Willett ordered the local Board of Elections not to count votes cast for Republican Dana Seum Stephenson when certifying results in the 37th District in Louisville. Stephenson - the daughter of veteran state Sen. Dan Seum, R-Louisville - outpolled Democrat Virginia Woodward by just over 1,000 votes out of 44,522 cast in the Nov. 2 election. Woodward filed an election-eve lawsuit claiming Stephenson had not lived in Kentucky for at least six years as required by the state Constitution to be eligible to serve in the Kentucky Senate. "Virginia Woodward looks forward to representing all of the citizens of the 37th District," her attorney, Jennifer Moore, said following the ruling. Stephenson's lawyer, Jim Milliman, said he would file a motion asking the Kentucky Supreme Court to hear his appeal, bypassing an intermediate appellate court. Milliman said Willett's ruling infringed on the separation of powers between the legislative and judicial branches. "He has intruded into the exclusive province of the General Assembly to determine the qualifications and election of a member of the General Assembly," he said in an interview. "He can't tell the General Assembly how to define residence." Paula McCraney, a spokeswoman for the Jefferson County clerk, said the board of elections had not yet received the judge's order. "I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt, we follow the law to the letter, so whatever the judge rules is what we will do," she said. In his ruling, Willett noted Stephenson's testimony at a post-election hearing that she had lived in Jeffersonville, Ind., from 1997 until 2001 while attending Indiana University Southeast. Jeffersonville is just across the Ohio River from Louisville. Stephenson also had an Indiana driver's license and voted in Indiana in 1998 and 2000. Stephenson and her husband moved to Louisville in 2001. "Based on these factors, Ms. Stephenson did not reside in nor become a resident of Kentucky until 2001, making her ineligible to meet the residency requirements" under the Constitution until 2007, Willett said. Milliman said Stephenson never intended to make Jeffersonville her permanent home, and was only "temporarily gone." "She has been a resident of Kentucky all of her life," he said in an interview with WHAS-TV in Louisville. "She was born here, she was raised here, she went to school here, and she's taught school here." The judge said that Woodward's request to not count votes for Stephenson would make Woodward "the de facto winner of the election." "To do so would be to disregard the votes of over 22,000 people who cast a ballot for Ms. Stephenson in this race, which this court does not take lightly," Willett said. The judge said he would like to call a special election so voters could choose between qualified candidates. "However, the legislature did not provide this as a potential remedy for this situation," he wrote. Stephenson had argued that the judge didn't have the authority to rule in the case because the Constitution gives the General Assembly the right to judge the qualifications of its members. Willett said in his ruling that a law enacted by the General Assembly gave the judicial branch jurisdiction to resolve challenges about the qualifications of a candidate. She also claimed the six-year residency requirement violates the due process and equal protection clauses of the U.S. Constitution. Willett said the requirement represents a "legitimate state interest." The ruling would not affect the balance of power in the state Senate. Before the election, Republicans held a 22-16 majority and appeared to have gained an additional seat in this month's election - when including uncertified results in the Stephenson-Woodward race. The two were running to succeed Democratic Sen. Larry Saunders