‘The Bulldog’ for Kentucky? Suspended Tri-State lawyer announces governor run

CINCINNATI (WXIX) - Kentucky’s next governor could be a well-known lawyer from Greater Cincinnati.

Eric Deters announced his gubernatorial aspirations on Thursday via his YouTube channel “The Bulldog Show.”

Deters intends to seek the Republican nomination in next year’s election to unseat incumbent Democrat Gov. Andy Beshear.

“First and foremost,” he said, “I want all of you to know this is legit. This isn’t a stunt. I do plan to raise campaign money and run for the office of Kentucky governor on the Republican party ticket.”

Deters explains he chose to run upon the encouragement of friends and family.

The primary is in May 2023. Beshear filed for reelection in early October. State Auditor Mike Harmon has announced he will seek the Republican nomination. Several other state Republicans have expressed interest.

The Kentucky Bar Association suspended Deters’ law license around eight years ago, according to our media partners at the Enquirer.

The Kentucky Supreme Court held a hearing to reinstate Deters’ license this June. The court refused his reinstatement, saying Deters had a “notorious propensity” for filing malicious and frivolous lawsuits and seemed unable to control himself. [Read the opinion]

According to the opinion, Deters in December 2020 attacked members of the KBA and the Kentucky Office of Bar Admissions by calling them “jokes of human excrement” and saying “they can all go straight to hell.”

The opinion concludes by calling Deters’ “lack of self-awareness [...] utterly amazing” and describing his practice of law as ungoverned “anarchy.”

In 2020, the Enquirer reports Deters was banned from the Hamilton County Courthouse after a judge said Deters threatened to burn the building down. He was jailed in 2019 in connection with his conduct in the same case.

Earlier this year, the Ohio Supreme Court ordered that Deters pay a fine for engaging in the unauthorized practice of law by giving legal advice to two clients of the firm, Deters Law, for which he still serves as spokesman and office manager.

The couple Deters reportedly counseled when no other attorneys were present said Deters offered advice on case strategy, referred to himself as “the Bulldog” and told them “he would take care of things and get things done.”

Deters was at the center of locally filed lawsuits against Greater Cincinnati’s largest hospital networks seeking to enjoin them from requiring that their employees get vaccinated against COVID-19.

The Courier-Journal reports the KBA asked the Kentucky Supreme Court to sanction Deters and hold him in contempt for “masterminding” those lawsuits despite being suspended.

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