FRANKFORT, Ky. — The Republican candidate in a disputed election was sworn in Friday as the newest member of the Kentucky Senate, even though a judge ruled she did not meet the state's residency requirements. One GOP senator threatened to resign in protest.

Dana Seum Stephenson, 32, lived in Indiana from 1997 to 2000, but the Kentucky Constitution requires that senators live in the state for at least six years before an election.

Brushing aside such concerns, the Republican-dominated Senate swore in Stephenson and defeated along party lines a committee's recommendation that Democrat Virginia Woodward be declared the winner of the Louisville district.

Senate President David Williams said he was confident the Senate had the power to determine its own membership. He said, for example, that the Senate could have a 23-year-old lawmaker, even though the constitution says senators must be at least 30.

"No court in the land could overturn that," he said.

On Election Day, Stephenson received 22,772 votes to Woodward's 21,750 votes, according to unofficial returns. At a judge's urging, the State Board of Elections certified Woodward the winner, and she took the oath of office on Jan. 1. But Stephenson asked the Senate to decide the race.

Democrats protested the decision to seat Stephenson. Democratic Senate floor leader Ed Worley called it "the greatest single act of pure, raw, ugly politics as I have ever seen take place in our Capitol."

Woodward had challenged Stephenson's residency on the eve of the November election, but the case was not heard in court until after the votes were cast.

She returned to court on Friday, asking a judge to prohibit Stephenson from performing any duties as senator. A hearing was scheduled for Monday.

Republican Sen. Bob Leeper, a member of the committee that recommended Woodward be declared the winner, proposed a special election to fill the seat. When Williams refused the request, Leeper said in a breaking voice that he had "tolerated a great deal up here" and threatened to resign. Leeper then left the Senate floor.

Stephenson's father is also a Republican member of the Senate.