Ken Kearns (1985-1986)
Full Name: Kenneth L. Kearns II
Education: B.A. Political Science (1986)
Year Elected: Junior
Involvment: Men's Interdorm Council (President), Student Association (Student Senator), Kentucky Intercollegiate State Legislature (Lt. Governor)
Student Political Affiliation: Focus Party
The SGA Election of 1985 was likely one of the most eventful in the history of student governance at EKU, and was the first to have its results voided. Tim Cowhig, the incumbent student body president, was running for reelection as a write-in candidate alongside John DeCammillis against the Focus Party ticket of Ken Kearns and Donna Lambers.
The first election took place on April 16, and saw Cowhig defeat the Focus Party by 119 votes. However, Kearns filed a formal protest of the results to the Election Committee and Student Court, alledging campaign violations by Cowhig and his team. On April 21, the Election Committee ruled that violations had been committed by both campaigns, declared the results void, and called for a new election to be held. Later that same day, the Student Court ruled that the Election Committee did not have the authority to void election results, and held a hearing of their own on the matter.
Kearns presented multiple allegations against the Cowhig/DeCammillis team, the most prominent of which was their team's distance from the polling location. At least two seperate incidents occured on election day that warrented a warning against Cowhig and DeCammillis's team. However, Cowhig alledged that these individuals were not members of his team, and were independant supporters of his candidacy. One of these incidents was a Cowhig supporter who walked a student into the polls, showed her a piece of paper with Cowhig and DeCammillis's name on it, and indicated that she should vote for them. Cowhig responded to this allegation by stating, "I should have caught the young lady beforehand. . . But she came late that day and decided to help us out. I can't say that I should be held accountable for someone who does that. Had I seen her cross the line I would have told her not to do so."
Cowhig's allegation involved the actions of Kearns/Lambers campaign manager, Juli Hastings. Hastings, who was the only person near the polls to know sign language, allegedly had assisted a deaf student in voting. This incident was acknowledged as a violation by Kearns during his testimony.
Following four hours of testimony and deliberation, a 7-1 decision (with two abstentions) was reached, with the Student Court concuring with the opinion of the Election Committee that violations had been committed by both campaigns. Greg Farris, Chair of the Election Committee, testified before the Student Court that, "...some illegal campaigning had always occurred. But the committee felt (illegal campaigning this year) was so blantantly obvious and in such greater proportion than in years past ... it was substantial enough to change the outcome of the election."
The second election took place on April 30, and saw a significant change in results. The Focus Party of Kearns/Lambers won by 401 votes over the Cowhig/DeCammillis ticket. The now victorious Kearns stated his intention to stop something like this happening again by working with the Election Committee to revise the policies and regulations.
Ken Kearns would go on to be a congressional staffer for Representative Larry Hopkins, and worked on his unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign in 1993. Kearns would later be elected Vice-Chair of the Fayette County Republican Party. He would run for state office on three seperate occassions to represent the 79 House District. He was defeated in the republican primary in 2012, and was defeated in the general elections in 2014 and 2016. He served as one of Kentucky's electors to the Electoral College, representing the 6th district, during the 2020 president election.
Despite being diagnosed with nasal cancer and given a 5% chance of survival, Kearns defeated the odds through more than thirty radiation treatments and twelve surgeries.