All Entries in the "Jerry Abramson" Category

Beshears, Abramsons lead inaugural parade on Capital Avenue

By Jack Brammer
jbrammer@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — Gov. Steve Beshear and first lady Jane Beshear rode up Capital Avenue Tuesday morning in an open horse-drawn carriage provided by the Kentucky Horse Park as part of an Inauguration Day parade that had more than 4,150 participants.

Following them in another carriage were Lt. Gov. Jerry Abramson and his wife, Madeline Abramson.

When their carriages arrived at the front steps of the Capitol, the couples dutifully took their place in a reviewing stand to watch 54 high school marching bands wish them well.

Beshear and Abramson were officially sworn into office at midnight. A public swearing-in ceremony is scheduled for 2 p.m. Tuesday.

It will mark the second time Beshear and Abramson will call the state’s Capitol building their workplace.

Abramson: It’s not over ’til it’s over

Former Louisville mayor and Lt. Gov. Candidate Jerry Abramson was the first to whisk into the Frankfort Convention Center, where Democrats are awaiting results.

In a casual round of interviews, he sounded an optimistic tone but cautioned that despite he and Gov. Steve Beshear’s healthy lead in polls, “it isn’t over ’til it’s over.”

Abramson did express disappointment in the low turnout Tuesday saying people in countries around the world fight and die for the right to vote.

After many Louisville mayoral races, Abramson said he enjoyed getting out into the Commonwealth and “discovering that we’re not all that different.”

Williams, Beshear launch new TV ads

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — The two main rivals in Kentucky’s gubernatorial race have new television advertisements out this week.

Democratic incumbent Gov. Steve Beshear’s new ad uses news clips showing Beshear touring the state after major disasters, such as an ice storm that knocked out power to much of the state in 2009. The advertisement also uses a moderator who says Beshear has been a calm presence during the state’s natural disasters over the past three years.

Beshear has said that 10 federally-declared states of emergency have been declared since he took office in December 2007.

Senate President David Williams features his running mate, Richie Farmer, the agriculture commissioner and former University of Kentucky basketball star, in his ad. The 30-second spot tries to tie Beshear to President Obama, who is unpopular in Kentucky. Farmer claims that Beshear cannot support Obama and be pro-coal.

“A vote for Beshear is a vote for Barack Obama’s war on coal,” Farmer says in the ad.

Beshear has said in interviews that he supports Obama but does not agree with him on all issues. His administration has sued the Environmental Protection Agency over coal regulations.

After leading Louisville, Jerry Abramson wants job in Ky. Capitol

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

LOUISVILLE — They took the trash can. Again.

Louisville city workers were supposed to dump the trash from the wicker-wire trash can near the Abramson’s grocery store on Preston Avenue and put it back. But frequently the can would disappear.

One day, a 12-year-old Jerry Abramson turned to his exasperated father, Roy, and said: “Don’t worry Dad, someday I’ll be mayor and I will have that can bolted down.”

Roy Abramson, now deceased, loved to tell that story about his son, Louisville’s longest-serving mayor. But Jerry Abramson, 65, who spent much of his childhood working at his father’s three-aisle grocery store in Smoketown, said he doesn’t’ remember that conversation or having aspirations for public office at that age.

Yet, 50 years later, Jerry Abramson has become almost synonymous with the city of his birth.

Abramson’s long tenure as Louisville’s mayor, three terms as mayor of the city and two terms as mayor of the merged city government, is on trial as he seeks his first statewide elected office. Rather than run again for mayor he decided in 2009 to join Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear’s campaign as his pick for lieutenant governor.

Claim that Abramson’s friend didn’t show up for work much at city job true

By Jack Brammer
jbrammer@herald-leader.com

The Herald-Leader will fact-check statements made by candidates and their surrogates leading up to the Nov. 8 election.

The statement: “Turns out Abramson used tax dollars to pay his friend 85 grand for a job she hardly showed up for.”

— David Williams’ campaign for governor in an online video ad.

The ruling: True

The facts: A video posted on YouTube this week by Republican David Williams’ campaign for governor focuses on Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear’s running mate, former Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson.

At debate, candidates for lieutenant governor disagree on tax reform

By Jack Brammer
jbrammer@herald-leader.com

With two weeks to go before the Nov. 8 general election, the three candidates for Kentucky’s second-highest political office — lieutenant governor — appeared in their first and only debate Monday night before a statewide television audience.

Democrat Jerry Abramson, Republican Richie Farmer and independent Dea Riley argued issues ranging from taxes to coal but maintained a mostly civil tone throughout the hourlong debate on Kentucky Educational Television’s Kentucky Tonight.

The sharpest disagreement came when host Bill Goodman asked the candidates their opinions on the need for tax reform.

Beshear outraises Williams 4 to 1 from May 17-Oct. 7

By Jack Brammer
jbrammer@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear’s re-election campaign has raised more than $9.5 million, it said Wednesday in a news release.

Beshear and his running mate, former Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson, collected more than $4.1 for the most recent filing period — from May to early October, according to disclosure forms filed with the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance.

The campaign reported having $1.07 million cash on hand. It said it has pre-purchased $1 million of television advertisements for the final weeks of the campaign. Election Day is Nov. 8.

Farishes will hold fundraiser for Beshear-Abramson campaign

FRANKFORT – Father and son Will and Bill Farish of Lane’s End Farm near Versailles will host a fund-raising reception Friday at their thoroughbred race horse breeding farm for the Democratic ticket of Gov. Steve Beshear and his running mate, former Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson.
The reception will be from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the farm’s Stallion Barn on Midway Road.

The invitation to the fundraiser says couples Will and Sarah Farish and Bill and Kelley Farish suggest a contribution of $1,000 to attend.

Second poll shows Beshear with double-digit lead over Williams

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — A second poll released this week shows Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear with a more than 20-point lead over Republican challenger David Williams.

Insight’s CN|2 poll, conducted by Braun Research, showed Beshear and running mate Jerry Abramson with 53.4 percent of the vote, compared to 25.3 percent for Williams and running mate Richie Farmer.

The independent slate of Lexington lawyer Gatewood Galbraith and marketing executive Dea Riley garnered about 7.2 percent of the vote.

Earlier this week, Public Policy Polling released numbers that showed Beshear witha 27-point lead over Williams.

Beshear campaign touts support of Republicans, including Larry Hopkins

By Jack Brammer
jbrammer@herald-leader.com

Former U.S. Rep. Larry Hopkins, who represented Central Kentucky’s 6th District for 14 years, is among more than 300 Republicans publicly backing Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear for governor.

Hopkins, at a news conference in Lexington Thursday with first lady Jane Beshear, said he is friends with the other two candidates for governor – Republican David Williams and independent Gatewood Galbraith — but he considers Beshear “the best leader.”

Hopkins, who was in Congress from 1979 to 1993, also endorsed Beshear for governor in 2007.

The Beshear campaign also released the names Thursday of more than 150 other Kentucky Republicans who have publicly announced their support for Beshear and his running mate, former Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson.

They included Paintsville Mayor Bob Porter, Newport Mayor Jerry Peluso and Calhoun Mayor Thomas C. Fulkerson.