Judge: Sullivan, Kennedy will not be on ballot for Milwaukee County Executive

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- The ballot for Milwaukee County Executive has now dropped from six to four candidates. 

The judge ruled Jim Sullivan and Bryan Kennedy broke the rules by hiring the same people to collect signatures.

Without signatures collected by the same circulators, neither could reach the required 2,000 signatures to make the ballot.

Attorneys for Sullivan and Kennedy claim they unknowingly hired out the same people to circulate those papers -- there was no intentional fraud. And the thousands of people who signed them, wanted those two on the ballot.

They also argued that the state law might only be there to direct candidates, and not mandatory. But the judge ultimately sided with candidate Theodore Lipscomb, who challenged the other two. 

Lipscomb says the state law is simple, and his opponents' campaigns didn't follow it.

The County Executive primary is Feb. 18. The general election is in April.