JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- A Missouri judge has rejected a lawsuit seeking to compel Gov. Jay Nixon to set special legislative elections.
The one-sentence ruling Tuesday from Cole County Circuit Judge Dan Green provides no reasoning. An attorney for the plaintiffs said they now plan to ask an appeals court to order April special elections for four vacant legislative seats.
After the lawsuit was filed in January, Nixon set August special elections for three vacant House seats. But he still has not called an election to fill a seat vacated when Nixon appointed Sen. Ryan McKenna as state labor department director.
The lawsuit contends Missouri voters are missing out on representation by delaying elections until after the May conclusion of the annual legislative session.