Update: Sept. 7, 2022 at 4:50 p.m. - This story has been updated to reflect that the judge ruled against removing the Libertarian candidate from the ballot.

A Libertarian candidate for attorney general, who is not a licensed attorney in Nevada, does not want to remain on the ballot for the 2022 general election, but a district court judge has ruled that his name be kept on the ballot.

On Wednesday, Carson City District Court Judge James Wilson ruled against Republican attorney general candidate Sigal Chattah, who sought to disqualify the Libertarian candidate and have his name removed from the general election ballot.

Wilson wrote that Chattah’s failure to act before key election deadlines, including filing a preelection candidate qualification challenge 105 days after the deadline and four days after the deadline for changing the ballot, “undermines her request.”

Last month, Chattah filed a lawsuit against Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske and the Libertarian candidate, John Kennedy, seeking to disqualify Kennedy from the ballot because he is not a member of the State Bar of Nevada in good standing.

Though Chattah’s motion was initially denied by a judge this week, Kennedy also sought to withdraw his candidacy, court records show. 

“Today it came to my attention that I was not eligible to run for this office because I am not a member of the bar in Nevada,” Kennedy wrote in an email to the secretary of state’s office on Aug. 26. “That being the case, I seek to withdraw my candidacy and be removed from the ballot. I have no intention of campaigning for an office I'm not eligible to run for.”

Following the passage of a new law in 2021 requiring attorney general candidates to be “a member of the State Bar of Nevada in good standing,” this election cycle marked the first time candidates needed to meet such a requirement.

Kennedy was unaware of the requirement when he filed to run in March, according to his email, and he noted that staff with the secretary of state’s office told him he didn’t need to be an attorney to hold that office. However, in a court declaration, Deputy Secretary of State for Elections Mark Wlaschin disputed that assertion after speaking with the staff members Kennedy likely referred to in his email.

“Based on my initial investigation, the Secretary of State disputes Mr. Kennedy's statement in his August 26, 2022 email that any member of the Secretary of State's staff discussed candidate qualifications with him,” Wlaschin stated.

Chattah, represented by Reno attorney and unsuccessful Republican gubernatorial candidate Joey Gilbert, argued that Cegavske failed in her obligation as secretary of state to verify Kennedy’s qualifications.

However, in the state’s response, filed on Aug. 31, Craig Newby, deputy solicitor general for the attorney general’s office, highlights state law requiring candidate challenges to be filed by an elector by April 5.

“Plaintiff’s allegation … is contrary to the existing structure of candidate declarations and challenges,” Newby wrote.

Wilson, the judge in the case, sided with Cegavske, writing that “the statutes do not expressly or implicitly require the secretary of state to investigate every qualification of every candidate, or any qualification of any candidate.”

Earlier this year, Democratic Attorney General Aaron Ford, who is running for re-election, successfully challenged the candidacy of another Democratic candidate, Stuart Mackie, based on the new qualification passed in 2021.

In its response, the state opposed making any changes to the general election ballot, which lists Kennedy as a Libertarian candidate for attorney general, noting that July 22 was the final day for any changes to be made to general election ballots under state law.

Wlaschin also estimated that “reformulating and reprinting ballots would cost approximately $2.7 million,” and “that it would cost approximately $330,000 to mail a separate notice to mail ballot recipients notifying them of Mr. Kennedy's disqualification.”

Wilson sided with that argument, writing that “the public has an interest in not paying for ballot corrective action caused by a very late filing of a preelection candidate qualification challenge.”

Still, Chattah has the opportunity to seek an evidentiary hearing in the case or appeal the decision, and a court could approve other remedies available under state law, beyond requiring a change on the ballots. The secretary of state does not oppose disqualifying the candidate from office, and does not oppose posting “a sign at each polling place where the person’s name will appear on the ballot informing voters that the person is disqualified from entering upon the duties of the office.”

During the primary election, Mackie still appeared on the ballot, drawing several thousand votes away from Ford, but those votes did not count, as Mackie had been disqualified.

If Kennedy appears on the general election ballot, he would likely draw more votes away from Chattah, as Libertarian candidates typically pick up votes that might otherwise go to Republican candidates.

Editor’s Note: This story appears in Indy 2022, The Nevada Independent’s newsletter dedicated to comprehensive coverage of the 2022 election. Sign up for the newsletter here.