In 2002, Fletcher was encouraged by Senator Mitch McConnell, the leader of Kentucky's Republican Party, to run for governor and formed an exploratory committee the same year. On December 2, 2002, he announced that he would run on a ticket with McConnell aide Hunter Bates. Early in 2003, a Republican college student named Curtis Shain challenged Bates' candidacy on grounds that he did not meet the residency requirements set forth for the lieutenant governor in the state constitution. Under the constitution, candidates for both governor and lieutenant governor must be citizens of the state for at least six years prior to the election. From August 1995 to February 2002, Bates and his wife rented an apartment in Alexandria, Virginia while Bates was working for a law firm in Washington, D.C., and later, as McConnell's chief of staff. Bob Heleringer, a former state representative from suburban Louisville and the running mate of Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Nunn, joined the suit as a plaintiff. In March 2003, an Oldham County judge ruled that Bates had not established residency in Kentucky. He cited the fact that from 1995 to 2002, Bates held a Virginia driver's license, paid Virginia income taxes, and "regularly" slept in his apartment in Virginia. Bates did not appeal the ruling because by allowing the judge to declare a vacancy on the ballot, Fletcher was able to name a replacement running mate, an option that would not have been afforded him had Bates withdrawn.