COEUR d’ALENE — Phil Hart’s appeal to the Idaho Supreme Court came up short on Friday.

Earlier this year, the former state senator for Kootenai County filed to run for a seat in the Idaho House of Representatives as a resident of District 7, which includes Shoshone, Clearwater, and Idaho counties as well as part of Bonner County.

Idaho Secretary of State Lawerence Denney certified Hart’s candidacy on March 12.

Weeks later on April 24, Denney’s office reversed itself and informed Hart that he was ineligible to run for the state Legislature. Hart’s name was to be crossed off May 15 primary election ballots.

However, after former Coeur d’Alene legislator Kathy Sims, a candidate in Kootenai County, challenged a similar roadblock thrown in her way by Denney’s office, the Secretary of State’s Office reversed itself again, and allowed that both Sims and Hart were eligible to seek election in their districts in the May 15 Republican primary.

Hart lost to incumbent Rep. Paul Shepherd by a margin of 944 votes out of 5,450 cast, prompting Hart to file a lawsuit on June 4 to contest the results of the primary in Idaho County district court.

The Secretary of State’s Office intervened and the court granted its motion, dismissing Hart’s case. Hart appealed to the Supreme Court through his attorneys, Thomas J. Katsilometes from Boise, and Art Macomber, a Coeur d’Alene attorney who represented Sims in her successful court challenge prior to the May primary.

The higher court affirmed Idaho County district court’s decision to grant a summary judgment to the Secretary of State in Hart’s case.

The Supreme Court opinion, released Friday, explained the district court was correct when it “ruled that Hart had failed to demonstrate that any irregularities in the election were ‘sufficient to change the result’ — an essential component of an election challenge under the Elections Contests Act.”

Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden argued the case on behalf of Secretary of State Denney. The Supreme Court awarded costs and fees to the Secretary of State.

Hart said, in a message to The Press, that his argument before the court did not focus on the numbe of votes cast for one candidate or another.

“Our argument was that the entire process was flawed where a candidate is taken off the ballot three weeks before an election without his knowledge and with no opportunity to object or even comment,” Hart said.

“Successful campaigns are dependent on momentum, perceptions, credibility, competency and so on, all of which are affected by countless factors. The summary nature of this type of lawsuit did not allow us the opportunity to develop our case. I think the Legislature needs to take a hard look at the election contest statute in light of what happened to Kathy Sims’ race and mine. Changes are needed.”