All Entries in the "Dea Riley" Category

Willie Nelson in tune with Galbraith for governor

FRANKFORT – Willie Nelson and his newly formed Teapot Party are backing independent candidate Gatewood Galbraith for governor of Kentucky.

The campaign of Lexington attorney Galbraith and his running mate, Frankfort political consultant Dea Riley, released a statement Monday quoting the country singer and songwriter as saying he is a “longtime friend” of Galbraith and believes Galbraith is “a good man and will do a good job.”

“We crossed Kentucky in a car that ran on hemp fuel one time when he ran for governor,” Nelson said.

Galbraith, who has run several times for governor, said he was “so proud to have Willie’s endorsement again. He’s been a dear friend for many years.”

Nelson formed the Teapot Party last November after he was arrested for possession of marijuana. He said its motto is “We lean a little to the left.”

Riley said many people have confused Galbraith’s stand on marijuana. “Gatewood has never advocated legalization of marijuana but regulation of marijuana,” she said.

–Jack Brammer

It’s official: Beshear-Abramson slate for governor and lieutenant governor

FRANKFORT — The campaign slate of Gov. Steve Beshear and former Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson in this year’s race for governor and lieutenant governor is official.

The two filed thier candidacy papers Thursday afternoon in the secretary of state’s office in the Capitol. They were accompanied by their wives, Jane Beshear and Madeline Abramson, and other family members.

Signing their papers were Beshear’s former secretary, Carol McDonald, and former law partner, Bruce Reynolds. They also signed the candidacy papers for Beshear with running mate Daniel Mongiardo in 2007.

Galbraith, Riley want clarification on petition

FRANKFORT — A Lexington lawyer running as an independent for governor wants a Franklin Circuit Court judge to decide whether it is appropriate to put his campaign’s mailing address on forms for signatures he needs to get on the ballot in November.

Gatewood Galbaith and his running mate Dea Riley must get 5,000 signatures by August to get on the November ballot for the governor’s race. The form for those signatures does not tell those who have signed where to send the information once the form is completed. Typically, the forms are sent back to the respective campaign headquarters before it is forwarded to the Secretary of State.

Personnel Board votes to save 82 political appointments

FRANKFORT — At the request of Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear, the Kentucky Personnel Board on Friday voted to exempt 82 political appointments from a budget-cutting law that would have abolished them Dec. 31 and saved the state more than $5.2 million.

In most of the individual votes, the governor’s five appointees to the Personnel Board did as his administration asked, including chairman Cecil Dunn, whose son was one of the Beshear aides at risk. Dunn said he would not act on his son’s job but otherwise participated in Friday’s discussion and voting.

The two board members chosen by state merit workers voted against exempting nine of the non-merit jobs, saying they needed more information about why they are necessary during a state budget crisis. They sometimes were joined by David Stevens, a former Lexington-Fayette Urban County Councilman whom Beshear named to the board.

The 82 appointed positions, with titles such as “policy adviser” and “special assistant,” are in mid-level management across state government. They get an average salary of $74,457. Nearly 40 percent of the appointees in question are campaign donors to Beshear, the Democratic Party or both.

When the two dissenting board members asked Nikki Jackson, Secretary of Beshear’s Personnel Cabinet, to explain how certain appointed positions were justified — including two that have been vacant for three years — Jackson said she could provide them with no additional information Friday. But she assured them the jobs are necessary for state government to function.

“These are key functions,” Jackson said. “We are not in the business of just handing out jobs for the sake of filling jobs.”

Kentucky Poll: Gov. Beshear holds solid lead going into 2011

PDF: Detailed poll results

By Jack Brammer and Bill Estep – jbrammer@herald-leader.com

Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear holds a substantial lead over two Republicans and an independent candidate who are angling to block his re-election efforts next year, a new Kentucky Poll shows.

If the race were held today, Beshear and his choice for lieutenant governor — Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson — would outdistance the two declared Republican slates by 15 points or more.

The poll also showed that more than half of Kentuckians — 56 percent — approve of Beshear’s job performance, and 26 percent disapprove. Eighteen percent are not sure.

When paired against Republican Senate President David Williams of Burkesville and running mate Richie Farmer, the state agriculture commissioner, 45 percent of likely voters gave the nod to Beshear, and 30 percent favored Williams.

Five percent would back independent candidate Gatewood Galbraith and running mate Dea Riley, a Frankfort political consultant. Twenty percent were undecided.

Beshear-Abramson slate raises $3.1 million for 2011 governor’s race

FRANKFORT — Gov. Steve Beshear raised more than $505,000 in the last three months for his re-election efforts, bringing the total raised so far by him and his running mate, Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson, to $3.1 million.

The Beshear-Abramson Democratic slate reported $2.3 million on hand in its latest report Tuesday to the state Registry of Election Finance.

Beshear and Abramson “continue to work tirelessly to bring economic recovery to Kentucky families, and Kentuckians from every corner of the state have responded,” Matt Osborne, the campaign’s finance director, said in a statement.

David Williams and Richie Farmer form slate to seek state’s top offices

UPDATED AT 6:45 P.M.

By Jack Brammer – jbrammer@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — Senate President David Williams and Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer teamed up Wednesday to run next year for Kentucky’s highest elective offices — governor and lieutenant governor.

“We believe this state is adrift, and we need a positive, pro-jobs agenda to put us in competition with other states,” Williams said during a news conference at his Frankfort home near the Capitol.

Known as scrappers in their own right, the well-known Republicans — Williams has been the controversial leader of the state Senate since 2000 and Farmer was a member of UK’s “Unforgettables” team in the 1991-92 season — face a tough fight.

Within minutes after Williams and Farmer announced their slate, Louisville businessman Phil Moffett, who has formed a GOP slate with state Rep. Mike Harmon of Danville, let it be known that his ticket will not be a pushover in next May’s Republican primary election.

“Running against someone who has signed off on all the debt Kentuckians are struggling with now and who has supported lots of tax increases kind of makes me feel like I’m already facing a Democrat,” said Moffett, who has the backing of several Tea Party movement members.

Beshear says his early fundraising will not hurt Mongiardo

VERSAILLES – Gov. Steve Beshear said Tuesday that his early fundraising for re-election in 2011 will not interfere with efforts by his choice in next year’s U.S. Senate race, Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo, to raise campaign funds. Beshear and his running mate for lieutenant governor, Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson, plan to hold fundraisers Sept. 22 [...]

Galbraith runs again for governor; Dea Riley is his running mate

FRANKFORT – Gatewood Galbraith is going to run again for governor.

Galbraith, a Lexington attorney who has run unsuccessfully for governor four times, has filed a slate with the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance to run as an independent for governor in 2011.

His running mate is Dea Riley, a political consultant in Frankfort who has managed several campaigns in the state. She formerly was married to state Supreme Court Justice Will T. Scott.

“I believe we can raise over a million dollars and win this race,” Galbraith said Tuesday in a telephone interview.

Galbraith said he was running for governor “to combat Kentucky’s electile dysfunction. Nothing has happened in this state for years and it’s the fault of both major political parties. I want to help the electorate change that.”