Kentucky state Rep. Pamela Stevenson — a.k.a. "Colonel Pam," the Democrats' nominee for this November's attorney general race in Kentucky — may have run unopposed in the primary held earlier this year, but her own resume is proving to be quite the challenge as she and Democrats in the Bluegrass State look toward the general election.
You see, Stevenson — who is running to be Kentucky's top lawyer — does not have a license to practice law in the Bluegrass State. Nor has she ever, reportedly.
This awkward revelation came in a report published in the Lexington Herald-Leader which revealed that, instead of being licensed in Kentucky, Stevenson is licensed in Indiana and has a practice in the Hoosier town of Clarksville, across the border from where she lives and holds office.
According to the Herald-Leader, Stevenson's campaign explained that she "has been licensed in Indiana but not Kentucky because the Kentucky Bar Association requires a separate ethics test to become a member. Indiana’s bar admission requirements did not include such a test when Stevenson, a Louisville native, graduated from the Indiana University School of Law in 1984," the report explains.
In addition, the campaign "insists that Stevenson is on track to being admitted by the Kentucky Bar Association by August, and was not previously a member because her long career as a litigator in the U.S. Air Force led her to focus on matters of national and international importance."
A person might think that squaring away such things would be a priority before one seeks to become the attorney general, but that was apparently not the case for Stevenson.
According to Kevin Grout, the spokesman for Republican candidate for attorney general Russell Coleman, "Rep. Stevenson owes the people of Kentucky answers. She wants to be our top legal officer, but she doesn't even have a license to practice in Kentucky," he emphasized. "Has Rep. Stevenson ever practiced law in Kentucky?" Grout asked. "If yes—she's a criminal. If not—she's not a qualified candidate to be Attorney General."
Questioning the last-minute timing of Stevenson's stated imminent admission to the Kentucky Bar, Grout slammed Kentucky's Democrat Governor Andy Beshear "and his hand-picked Attorney General nominee" who "tried to hide the truth" before highlighting the critical nature of the A.G. post. "Kentucky is under attack from violent crime, deadly drugs and a federal government run out of control," he reminded. "Russell Coleman is the only candidate ready to protect our families as Attorney General on Day One. His opponent could still be filling out paperwork just to get a law license," quipped Grout.
The Herald-Leader explained that, should Stevenson not succeed in her bid to become a member of the Kentucky Bar Association — a group in which her GOP opponent Coleman has been a member since 2004 — but become elected, "she would have to file a motion — subject to approval by a judge — to appear in a case that her office would be arguing."
Accusing Stevenson and her campaign of "making a mockery of Kentucky's legal system," Republican Party of Kentucky spokesman Sean Southard pointed out the disconnect between Stevenson's promise to represent the people of the Commonwealth despite never being allowed to practice in a Kentucky court room.
"Pamela Stevenson is running around Kentucky saying she will be the ‘People’s Lawyer,’ Southard noted. "She left out the ‘people’ she’s talking about will have to live in Indiana. She is the most unqualified candidate to ever run for this office," added Southard.