NASHVILLE (AP) — Senate Democratic leader Jim Kyle has announced he will run to fill a vacancy in the chancery court in Memphis.
Kyle, a partner in the law firm Domico Kyle, has served in the state Senate since 1983 and as Democratic leader since 2005. He was a candidate for governor in 2010, but dropped out before the primary.
The Judicial Code of Conduct says that judicial candidates cannot "act as a leader in, or hold office in, a political organization."
Kyle said his reading of that rule would still permit him to act as Democratic leader because the Senate Democratic caucus is not a formal political organization.
A spokeswoman for state courts said the Board of Judicial Conduct would only decide the matter if a complaint were filed.