Kurita Loses Bid For Reinstatement As Dem Nominee

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CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- A special panel of Democrats has voted to name Clarksville attorney Tim Barnes as the party's nominee in state Senate District 22.

Incumbent state Sen. Rosalind Kurita had urged the panel to reinstate her nomination after the state Democratic Party's executive committee stripped her of her 19-vote win on Saturday.

But The Leaf-Chronicle newspaper in Clarksville reports that Democratic officials from Montgomery, Cheatham and Houston counties voted 61-4 in favor of Barnes.

Kurita's win was thrown out after Barnes' attorneys alleged heavy Republican interference in the contest and that some of his supporters were directed to vote in the wrong primary.

Barnes addressed the panel before the vote Wednesday night, but Kurita did not attend the meeting. She has accused Democrats of stealing her primary win and has begun raising money to mount a write-in campaign.

There is no Republican running in the general election.