Another Warren County magistrate candidate has seen his hopes of serving on Warren Fiscal Court come to a premature end.

Shawn Helbig, a retired law enforcement officer who was running for the sixth district magistrate seat as a Republican, told the Daily News on Wednesday that he is dropping out of the race because of a technicality involving his filing for the office.

Like Sandy Jones Boussard earlier in the week, Helbig ran afoul of a state rule requiring candidates filing for office to have two witnesses to the filing who are of the same party and live in the same magisterial district.

Helbig said one of his witnesses was not a registered Republican, thus disqualifying him from running.

“It’s unfortunate,” said Helbig, who retired in 2018 from the Bowling Green Police Department. “It’s just a tough deal.”

Helbig, 51, explained that one of his witnesses was someone who had a history of being in line with Republican Party ideals but had never changed his party affiliation from Democrat.

“When we were younger, we were told to register as Democrats in order to be able to vote in the primary election,” Helbig said. “As time has gone on and more people have identified as Republican, some people believe they’re registered Republican but have never changed.”

The announcement came a day after Boussard dropped out of her race for first district magistrate for the same reason.

“Having run nonpartisan races before, I didn’t realize (that witnesses needed to be from the same party),” said Boussard, a former Bowling Green mayor. “It’s not my preference that it end this way, but it’s the right thing to do.”

Helbig expressed similar thoughts, saying: “At the end of the day, it’s an integrity issue. Rules are rules. I was not intentionally trying to break the rules, but this (dropping out of the race) is the right thing to do.”

Warren County Clerk Lynette Yates said the problems with the filings of both Boussard and Helbig were discovered because of an open records request filed by a county resident.

“The paperwork was incorrect,” Yates said. “It clearly states on the filing documents that witnesses have to be from the same party.”

Yates said her office brought the discrepancies to the attention of both candidates and “both chose to withdraw.”

The withdrawal of Boussard leaves only Scott Lasley and Luis Llontop in the race for the Republican nomination for first district magistrate in the primary election, with voting being held Thursday through Saturday and on May 17.

The winner will go against Democrat Josh Poling in the November general election.

Helbig’s withdrawal leaves incumbent Ron Cummings and newcomer Kelcey Rock to battle in the Republican primary, with the winner having no Democrat opposition in November.

The withdrawals come too late to remove Boussard and Helbig from the primary ballot, but Yates said any votes cast for them won’t be counted. “I hate it for both candidates,” Yates said. “It was an honest mistake in both cases.”

Although that mistake has ended Helbig’s run for the Republican nomination, he said it may not spell the end of his political ambitions.

“I’ve had many supporters encourage me to run (for magistrate) as a write-in candidate in November,” said Helbig, who ran an unsuccessful campaign for Warren County sheriff in 2018. “If you withdraw prior to the primary election, you’re eligible to run as a write-in candidate as long as you announce it at least four weeks before the general election.

“A write-in campaign would be expensive. That’s a decision I’ll have to make with my family.”

Helbig hasn’t spent extravagantly on the primary race. He has reported to the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance campaign receipts of $2,900 and disbursements of $1,993.43.

“I specifically did not ask for contributions,” Helbig said. “I funded the campaign myself, except for one person, and I will return that money.”

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