All Entries in the "KY-3rd" Category

Plan would put Hal Rogers’ home county in two congressional districts

PDF: House plan for congressional districts

By Jack Brammer
jbrammer@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — A state House committee voted along party lines Thursday to split the home county of Republican U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers of Somerset into two congressional districts as it redraws the boundaries of Kentucky’s six districts.

The plan contained in House Bill 2 also moves Boyle, Garrard and part of Jessamine counties from Central Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District to south-central Kentucky’s 2nd District.

It also makes Northern Kentucky’s 4th District a more urban district and moves Daviess County from the 2nd District to the 1st District.

House Speaker Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, acknowledged after the House State Government Committee approved the bill that it is likely to change before becoming law.

“I assume it will go through some vigorous debate and likely transformation,” he said.

Yarmuth gets new communications director

U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth, D-Louisville, has hired Stephen George as his new communications director.

George, who previously worked for Yarmuth as a staff writer at LEO Weekly in Louisville, will replace Trey Pollard, who has accepted a press position with the national Sierra Club in Washington to focus on media strategy for the organization’s conservation campaigns.

George’s first day with Yarmuth in Washington will be Dec. 12. George also has worked as editor of the Nashville City Paper and wrote about government for the Nashville Scene.

He recently was press secretary for U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper of Tennessee.

–Jack Brammer

Proposals to redraw Ky. congressional districts would bring big changes

By Beth Musgrave and Jack Brammer
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

PDF: View the proposals

FRANKFORT — Two new proposals to redraw the boundaries of Kentucky’s six congressional districts could mean major changes for Central Kentucky voters.

Both plans appear to benefit Democratic U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler, who represents Lexington and many surrounding counties in the 6th Congressional District.

The proposals — one pushed by the Democratic-controlled House and another by unnamed members of Kentucky’s congressional delegation — would move Republican-leaning Jessamine and Garrard counties out of Chandler’s district, replacing them with counties that lean more Democratic.

Republican Andy Barr, a Lexington lawyer who narrowly lost to Chandler in 2010 and plans to challenge him again in 2012, said Tuesday that the emerging plans amount to “incumbent-protection gerrymandering for a weak incumbent.”

Census: A lot of Kentuckians will get a new congressman

By Bill Estep – bestep@herald-leader.com

A lot of Kentuckians are going to get new representatives in the U.S. House because of significant shifts in the state’s population.

The eastern and western ends of the state lost population between 2000 and 2010 while the middle third grew, according to U.S. Census figures released this week.

Three of the state’s six congressional districts fall short of the necessary population, while the other three are over it.

The national average for a U.S. House District will be 710,767.

However, the target number will vary by state; dividing Kentucky’s population of 4.3 million by six seats means a population target for each district of about 723,000.

U.S. Rep. Yarmuth bemoans Conway loss

LOUISVILLE — U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth, D-Louisville, said he was disappointed in Republican Rand Paul’s victory over Democrat Jack Conway in Kentucky’s U.S. Senate race.

“We have missed an opportunity to elect a truly capable visionary,” in Jack Conway, Yarmuth said after thanking supporters at the campaigns’ joint headquarters in Louisville.

Yarmuth, who won re-election Tuesday, said he was proud to have voted for health care reform and for supporting energy policies such as cap-and-trade carbon dioxide limits.

–Dori Hjalmarson

‘Comment’ will talk politics; ‘Kentucky Tonight’ features 3rd Congressional District candidates

Politics will be the prime topic on this weekend’s “Comment on Kentucky,” a public affairs show of the Kentucky Educational Television network.

Joining host Ferrell Wellman will be reporters Ronnie Ellis of CNHI, Inc., Joe Gerth of The Courier-Journal and Jack Brammer of the Lexington Herald-Leader.

The show airs live at 8 p.m. ET Friday on KET1. It also will be broadcast at 6:30 a.m. Saturday on KET KY, 7:30 a.m. Sunday on KET KY, 12:30 p.m. Sunday on KET 1, 8 a.m. Monday on KET KY and 7:30 p.m. Monday on KET KY.

On the Monday, Oct. 11, edition of “Kentucky Tonight” at 8 ET on KET and at www.ket.org/live, host Bill Goodman will talk with Kentucky’s 3rd Congressional District candidates.

Biden to tout stimulus in Louisville on Monday

Vice President Joe Biden plans to visit Louisville Monday to discuss how federal stimulus dollars have benefited the state, the White House announced Friday.

Biden will deliver remarks at 11 a.m. at the headquarters of GE Appliances & Lighting. Gov. Steve Beshear and U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth, D-Louisville are expected to join him.

Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Jack Conway has a scheduling conflict and will not be at Biden’s visit, Conway’s campaign manager, Jonathan Drobis, said. He declined to identify the scheduling conflict.

GE is making a $600 million investment to expand manufacturing production at Appliance Park, the news release said. Its investment is supported by $24.8 million in federal tax credits.

GE Appliance Park already has added more than 100 new employees to meet increased demand for energy-efficient appliances due to federal rebates, the news release said.

With the addition of three new product lines, they plan to add more than 800 jobs through 2013.

- Jack Brammer

Republican files against Yarmuth in race for Congress

Todd Lally, a commercial airline pilot and a veteran of the war in Afghanistan and Iraq, announced his candidacy Friday to run as a Republican next year in the 3rd Congressional District race.

The seat is now held by Democrat John Yarmuth. The district covers Jefferson County.

Chandler, Yarmuth and Abramson endorse Conway

FRANKFORT — Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson and U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth endorsed Jack Conway in next year’s U.S. Senate race at a campaign event in Louisville on Monday.

Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler and state Auditor Crit Luallen reiterated their support for Conway and confirmed that they will not seek the seat.

2 Kentucky Democrats hoping for happy birthdays