OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Supreme Court has rejected the state Republican Party’s attempt to keep Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Bob Kerrey off the ballot.

The Supreme Court ruled Monday that the GOP challenge of Kerrey’s residency in Nebraska was filed too late because the May primary ballot was certified last Thursday.

The high court’s decision clears the way for Kerrey to run for the senate seat he held for two terms after serving as Nebraska’s governor. He recently moved back to Nebraska from New York where he’d lived since 2001.

Kerrey’s campaign manager Paul Johnson says Republica
ns should accept they’ll have to compete with Kerrey.

GOP Chairman Mark Fahleson says he’s disappointed Kerrey will appear on the ballot because of a legal technicality. But he says another appeal is unlikely.