All Entries in the "Todd P’Pool" Category

Campaign Watchdog: Claim that P’Pool improperly billed state half true

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@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: “As a lawyer, Todd P’Pool was twice cited for improperly billing state government.”

— Bluegrass Committee for Justice and Fairness, a third-party political group supporting Democratic Attorney General Jack Conway, in a television commercial

The ruling: Half true

The facts: As Hopkins County attorney, Republican candidate for attorney general Todd P’Pool bills the state for hours he works enforcing Kentucky’s child-support collection laws.

Candidates for attorney general promise to wield power in different ways

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — The two men seeking Kentucky’s top law enforcement job on Nov. 8 say they would wield the power offered by one of state government’s most important positions in dramatically different ways.

If re-elected, Democratic Attorney General Jack Conway says he will continue prosecuting Medicaid fraud, rooting out possible improprieties in for-profit colleges, busting child pornographers and working with law enforcement to eradicate prescription drug abuse.

Republican challenger Todd P’Pool, the Hopkins County attorney, says he wants to strengthen the office’s public corruption unit and create a “federalism unit” inside the agency to challenge expansion of the federal government’s reach.

In particular, P’Pool says he is running because Conway has not done enough to fight burdensome federal regulation of the coal industry and did not join a lawsuit questioning the constitutionality of a federal overhaul of health insurance.

Aside from their contrasting platforms, the two candidates have spent much of their time slinging insults and questioning the others’ prosecutorial independence.

Comer, P’Pool announce bus tour

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — Two Republican candidates for statewide office plan to embark Wednesday on a four-day “Corn and Coal” bus tour.

State Rep. James Comer, who is running for agriculture commissioner, and Todd P’Pool, the Todd County attorney who is challenging Democratic incumbent Attorney General Jack Conway, announced Monday that they will make stops in 15 counties.

Comer faces Democrat Bob Farmer in the Nov. 8 general election.

Conway says politics will not influence election complaints

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — Democratic Attorney General Jack Conway said Thursday that a complaint filed against fellow Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear’s campaign is being treated in the same manner as all election complaints.

The Republican Party of Kentucky alleged that member’s of Beshear’s administration have illegally pressured rank-and-file state employees for campaign contributions and have filed complaints against Beshear’s campaign with several oversight bodies, including Conway’s office. Democrats say the allegation is baseless.

“I can assure and have assured the people of Kentucky that the referrals that have been made to my office will be handled in accordance with law enforcement protocol,” Conway told the Lexington Herald-Leader editorial board on Thursday. “We’re handling it in a non-political way.”

Conway declined to give the status of the investigation of the complaint against Beshear.

Beshear faces Republican David Williams and independent Gatewood Galbraith in the Nov. 8 general election. Conway faces Republican Todd P’Pool.

Conway launches two new TV ads

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — Attorney General Jack Conway launched his first television advertisements of the general election campaign this week.

The two 30-second ads will run in major media markets beginning Wednesday.

The advertisements focus on Conway’s past accomplishments as the state’s top law enforcement officer. The advertisements do not mention Conway’s opponent, Republican Todd P’Pool, who has run two television advertisements so far this fall.

One 30-second ad touts Conway’s fiscal responsibility, noting that he has cut his own salary and cut his staff over the past three years. The second 30-second ad focuses on Conway’s creation of a cyber crimes unit, which targets child pornography online.

P’Pool wins award for child support; wants automated payments

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@hearld-leader.com

FRANKFORT — The Republican candidate for attorney general won an award Tuesday for outstanding performance in collecting child support payments during his tenure as Hopkins County Attorney.

Todd P’Pool, who faces incumbent Democratic Attorney General Jack Conway in the Nov. 8 general election, received the award Tuesday at a ceremony in Frankfort. P’Pool also received outstanding service awards for child support collection in 2009 and 2010.

If elected attorney general, P’Pool said he would push for changes in the way child support is collected to make it easier for parents to pay support. Currently, there is no option for automatic payment using debit or credit cards.

P’Pool’s new ad ties Conway to Obama

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — In his third TV ad, Republican candidate for Attorney General Todd P’Pool compares his opponent to President Barack Obama, who remains unpopular in Kentucky.

The new advertisement begins with a frowning photo of the president and an announcer saying “Barack Obama is destroying America.”

The ad claims that incumbent Democratic Attorney General Jack Conway has “done nothing to stop him in Kentucky.”

The ad says P’Pool will fight “Obama care” and will work to protect the coal industry. It says Conway shares Obama’s “pro-choice” stance.

Conway, who has a double-digit lead over the Hopkins County Attorney in recent polls, has yet to run any television advertisements.

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.

P’Pool touts tough conservative values in 2nd campaign ad

FRANKFORT — Republican Todd P’Pool launched his second TV ad Wednesday for his campaign for state attorney general.

The 30-second ad portrays the attorney for Hopkins County as a crime fighter “with a 96 percent conviction rate.”

Prosecutor named to investigate complaint against Sullivan University

By John Cheves
jcheves@herald-leader.com

A special prosecutor has been named to examine possible violations of Kentucky’s campaign-finance laws by Sullivan University, which urged employees at a gathering this month to defeat Democratic Attorney General Jack Conway.

Sullivan University executives asked more than 100 employees at a Louisville meeting to vote for and give campaign money to Todd P’Pool, the Republican nominee for attorney general in the Nov. 8 election. A Sullivan subsidiary, Spencerian College, is one of several for-profit colleges that Conway is investigating for possibly defrauding students or manipulating government-backed tuition assistance programs.

Kentucky Revised Statute 121.310 makes it a felony for employers to “coerce or direct any employee to vote for any political party or candidate.”

Grover Potts Jr., attorney for Sullivan University, said the school did nothing illegal.