By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette
As the faxes have poured into the Nelson County Gazette newsroom, one candidate’s filing caught my eye in my large stack of faxes: That of Kentucky Colonel Michael E. Masters, who is one of 12 Democrats running for the office of Nelson County clerk.
For a number of years now, Masters has placed the title “Colonel” ahead of his name. Several years ago he successfully published a book about his take on Southern hospitality and entertaining Kentucky-style, and has also successfully played the part of the mythical Kentucky Colonel, formally adopting the honorary title that many of us Kentuckians have been given as part of the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels.
But can the Colonel keep his rank when his name appears on the May primary ballot?
In his filing for office, Masters states he wants his name to appear on the May ballot as “Colonel Michael Masters.” This falls under the 25-character limit for ballot names, but does it run afoul of Kentucky law? For guidance, let’s check KRS 118.129, which addresses how the name of a candidate for office may appear on a ballot.
KRS 118.129 section (2) states that:
A candidate’s nickname which is found to be, in the discretion of the Secretary of State or the county clerk, as appropriate, a title, rank, degree, job description, or spurious phrase shall be placed on the ballot only if it is the candidate’s bona fide nickname, generally used by acquaintances of the candidate in the county of residence to refer to the candidate, and if the nickname is acknowledged, by affidavit, under oath, by five (5) residents of the county in which the candidate resides, to be a bona fide nickname. The candidate shall also acknowledge, by affidavit under oath, that this is his bona fide nickname and is not being used to gain an advantage on the ballot.
For a nickname to appear on the ballot, it must both be in general use by the candidate’s acquaintances AND be acknowledged under oath by five residents of the county that the nickname is indeed the candidate’s nickname. The candidate is also required to acknowledge under oath that the nickname is a just a nickname and not a ploy to gain an advantage on the ballot.
The next section of KRS 118.129 deals with how a nickname should appear on the ballot:
(3) A nickname shall always appear set off in quotation marks and immediately before the last name. Periods shall follow all abbreviations or initials. Additional qualifiers following the last name, such as “Jr” or “III” shall not be separated from the last name by a comma and shall be followed by a period.
If Master’s title is deemed a nickname, state law says it should be indicated on the ballot in quotations immediately before his last name, i.e., Michael “Colonel” Masters.
If Masters has legally changed his name to “Colonel Michael Masters,” then the title no longer is a title but his legal name. And if he has changed his legal name, he did so in the name of promoting his business interests and not for a ballot advantage. But had he intended on trying to gain an advantage, Masters would not be the first candidate to pulls such a stunt.
That honor goes to Robert Mead, an accountant who ran for and won the office of state teasurer in 1987 and served during the administration of Gov. Wallace Wilkinson. Voters under the age of 40 may not remember this, but prior to running for office, Mead changed his legal name to “Robert Mead CPA” — a ploy that arguably gave him an advantage on the ballot: In a list of candidates, most voters would prefer a candidate who was qualified to serve as treasurer; and who would be more qualified than a certified public accountant? Was his tactic helpful? Mead won, and that’s all he needed to do.
Mead’s last political race was for state auditor in 1991. He lost in the May primary to a young man named Ben Chandler, who served as state auditor and attorney general before losing a gubernatorial race on his way to winning a seat representing Kentucky’s Sixth Congressional District.
But will the Colonel keep his rank when the May primary rolls around? Without knowing if his title is his legal name, the answer is a probable “yes.” The only question may be how it appears on the ballot. If “Colonel” is not part of his legal name but is deemed to be a nickname, state law requires it to be placed before his last name in quotation marks. Either way, Masters will retain his “rank” and therefore, his name recognition in the community.
-30-
