A victory for Kathy Stein!

A Kentucky judge struck down the General Assembly's recent redistricting plan. This is not only a victory for Kathy Stein but for Western Kentucky as well.

A judge struck down the legislative redistricting plan as unconstitutional Tuesday and ordered the 2012 elections to be run in the districts that have been in place for the last decade — unless the House and Senate can pass bills that meet constitutional muster.

“The court … concludes that the redistricting cure of House Bill 1 is worse than the malapportionment disease that it is legally required to remedy, at least for two years,” Franklin Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd wrote.[...]

e said there is “no controlling case law” to determine if the legislature violated the constitution when it switched numbers on two Senate districts and effectively disenfranchised more than 100,000 Fayette County residents for the next two years. But he said it needs “full adjudication.”

Shepherd pushed the deadline to file for office back until 4 p.m. Friday.

Sen. Kathy Stein, the Lexington Democrat who was effectively prohibited from running for re-election this year, said the disenfranchisement of her constituents under the House-Senate plan “does not comport with democracy.” She flashed the “thumb’s up” sign to supporters after hearing of the ruling.

Stein said she’s resigned to the likelihood that she will be redistricted out of office under any new plan, but will consider it a victory if Fayette County isn’t represented by someone outside of the county.