Kentucky Rep. Shane Baker wants to ban naturalized citizens and people with dual citizenship from holding local or state office. The Republican from Somerset told Kentucky Public Radio he’s proposing the legislation in order to block them from taking Kentucky in an unspecified “direction.”
“You can see the direction they're trying to take New York, and the problems that are there are on the front burner there, and we don't want to face those things in Kentucky,” Baker said. “We want to make sure to head things off before they get here.”
Baker is seemingly referring to the election of Democratic New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a naturalized citizen originally from Uganda and member of the Democratic Socialists of America.
Baker introduced both a bill and a constitutional amendment this week. House Bill 186 would require people elected to local offices — county commissioner, mayor, city council, board of education, etc. — to be natural-born citizens and may not hold dual citizenship with another nation.
House Bill 259, meanwhile, would change the Kentucky Constitution to make the same new requirements for state offices, like governor, attorney general, Supreme Court justice or state lawmaker.
But there are already Kentucky politicians serving their communities who fall into the category of citizen that Baker is trying to block. Baker’s colleague, Democratic Rep. Nima Kulkarni from Louisville has served in the state House since 2019 — two years longer than Baker.
Read the rest at LPM News.
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