All Entries in the "Ed Worley" Category

Several state lawmakers battling for leadership posts

By Jack Brammer – jbrammer@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — The general election is over, but several state lawmakers are still scrambling for votes.

Lawmakers must choose their leaders when they return to Frankfort on Jan. 4, and a handful of races remain hotly contested.

The five House Democratic leaders will not seek re-election as a slate, said Speaker Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg.

“Each leader decided to go on his own,” he said.

Former Speaker Jody Richards, D-Bowling Green, has been seeking votes to displace House Speaker Pro Tem Larry Clark of Louisville. Rep. Tommy Thompson of Owensboro is seeking a leadership position, most likely that of majority whip, a post now held by John Will Stacy of West Liberty.

Election Preview: GOP sees 34th District Senate race as best chance to gain a seat

By Greg Kocher – gkocher1@herald-leader.com

RICHMOND — One of the more closely watched state legislative races this fall is the campaign for the 34th District Senate seat now held by state Sen. Ed Worley, D-Richmond, who is not running for re-election.

The race is significant statewide because Republicans see it as an opportunity to pick up another seat in the Senate, which now has 20 Republicans, 17 Democrats and one Independent who caucuses with the GOP.

The 34th District has 39,523 Democrats and 35,191 Republicans. That’s the narrowest margin between the two parties in any contested Senate district, so Republicans see it as ripe for the picking, said Jared Carpenter, the Richmond banker and GOP nominee seeking the seat.

“So many people are calling, saying, ‘How does it feel to be in the biggest race in the Republican Party in Kentucky?’ ” Carpenter said. “And I say, ‘Well, it felt pretty good till you told me that.’”

The others vying for the seat are Lee Murphy, a Democrat who served on the transition team to transfer state operations to the administration of Gov. Steve Beshear; and Donald Van Winkle, an independent who ran and lost against Worley and Republican Barry Metcalf in 2006. Van Winkle is perhaps better known as the whistle blower who in 2005 alleged operational failures at Blue Grass Army Depot in Madison County.

Legislative leaders claim more than half of new borrowing for roads

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

FRANKFORT — On the final night of last week’s special legislative session, Sen. Kathy Stein, D-Lexington, complained about voting on a 245-page bill outlining $6.7 billion worth of road projects without even seeing it.

“This is an absolute outrage,” she said after casting one of two votes against the measure in the Senate. “Who knows what’s in it?”

The answer: A lot.

A review of the massive bill passed after 10 p.m. last Saturday shows that the districts represented by legislative leaders fared well. The bill included more than $400 million in borrowing, more than half of which is going to projects in 12 legislative leaders’ districts.

In some cases they snagged money for new road projects that were not included in any of the road-building proposals considered by the House and Senate earlier this year.

For example, the plan calls for spending $3 million of borrowed money on a “scoping” study to determine the feasibility of building a new bridge over Lake Cumberland near Wolf Creek Dam, in the districts of House Minority Leader Jeff Hoover, R-Jamestown, and Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville.

“The money always seems to go to leadership. They are the ones who hold the fiscal pencil,” said Sen. Tom Buford, R-Nicholasville, who also voted against the road plan.

Senate candidate says he’ll settle unpaid taxes

By John Cheves – jcheves@herald-leader.com

A Democratic nominee for the Kentucky Senate says his Madison County company fell behind on paying its taxes at a time when he was not running daily operations five years ago, but he’ll settle up this election year.

Lee Murphy on Tuesday defeated two other Democrats for the right to run in Senate District 34, the seat held by retiring Senate Democratic Leader Ed Worley, D-Richmond. Murphy, whom Worley backed, faces a Republican opponent on Nov. 2.

Murphy is president of Chapel Communications, a small Internet service provider, which failed to pay its property taxes — about $4,300 a year — to Madison County in 2004 and 2005.

The man who bought the tax liens at sheriff’s sales, retired doctor William Grise, said he had to repeatedly demand payment and finally threaten foreclosure last November before Murphy wrote him a check for about $6,300, which covered the 2004 taxes, plus penalties and interest.

The 2005 taxes remain unpaid, at a total debt of about $6,500, Grise said.

Little political experience in state Senate race to replace Worley

By Greg Kocher – gkocher1@herald-leader.com

By the time state Sen. Ed Worley, the Democratic minority leader, announced in January he would not seek re-election, one Democrat and two Republicans already had jumped in to fill his 34th District seat.

In Tuesday’s primary election, they’ll be joined on the ballot by two additional Democrats and another Republican, the last having held the Senate seat in the 1990s.

If there’s one common denominator among the candidates, it’s that they are mostly inexperienced in politics. The race for the 34th District covers Madison, Rockcastle and Lincoln counties.

The Democrats are Mike Cope, a small-business owner; Landra Lewis, a mediation consultant; and Lee Murphy, the president of an Internet service provider.

The Republicans are Jared Carpenter, a banker; Dr. Kent Kessler, a surgeon; and Barry Metcalf, who held the seat before Worley.

Expanded gambling bill clears Senate panel

By Janet Patton – jpatton1@herald-leader.com

A Senate committee for the first time approved a proposal Thursday to expand gambling at racetracks, a move that could put millions into Kentucky horse racing purses.

The bill, which is expected to clear the Senate with bipartisan support next week, would allow all eight existing racetracks to add electronic gambling commonly known as “Instant Racing,” which pools bets on random previously run races.

Sen. Damon Thayer, R-Georgetown, who filed the legislation, said it is designed to shore up the state’s struggling industry but it won’t generate any new revenue for the state’s General Fund.

“I do think it will provide some help and a great deal of hope for the horse industry,” Thayer said.

Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville, said the proposal, which was added to a racing-related bill that passed the House last month, could come up for a vote in the Senate as early as Tuesday.

“I think it has considerable support. Bipartisan support,” Williams said.

Open legislative seats in Madison County attract candidates

FRANKFORT – The open legislative seats in Madison County drew more candidates Tuesday – the filing deadline for the May primaries.

Republican Barry Metcalf of Richmond, who represented the 34th state Senate district from 1994 to 1999, filed for his old seat, which opened up when state Sen. Ed Worley, D-Richmond, announced last week he wouldn’t seek a fourth term.

Metcalf is the third Republican in the race, joining Jared K. Carpenter and Kent J. Kessler. Two Democrats, Lee Murphy and Michael S. Cope, previously filed papers to run.

Metcalf, who works in property management, said he is the “anti-casino gambling candidate” in the race. He said he opposes expanded gambling, contending that it increases societal ills.

In the Senate, Metcalf sponsored a so-called “potty parity” bill that required government buidings to have sufficient rest rooms for women.

Conservative constitutional amendment fails in state Senate

Track the progress of key legislation on Kentucky.com’s new legislature page.

By Jack Brammer – jbrammer@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — A constitutional amendment that touches on an array of hot-button issues pushed by conservative Republicans failed in the state Senate Monday after Democrats took a pass on the bill.

The measure, which backers called the “21st Century Bill of Rights,” would amend the Kentucky Constitution to say no law could force Kentuckians to participate in health insurance systems, provide abortion services or surrender their firearms. It also would ban laws that prevent posting the Ten Commandments and coal mining.

If approved by the legislature, voters would decide its fate at the polls in November.

Senate Bill 3, sponsored by Sen. Brandon Smith, R-Hazard, needed 23 votes for passage. All 20 Republicans in the Senate and its one independent, Bob Leeper of Paducah, voted for the measure, but the 16 Democrats present recorded “pass” votes. Sen. Dorsey Ridley, D-Henderson, was absent.

Richmond businessman seeks Worley’s Senate seat

FRANKFORT — Richmond businessman Lee Murphy, who has managed several political campaigns, filed Friday to run as a Democrat for the state Senate seat being vacated by Democrat Ed Worley.

“I’ve been on the sidelines of political campaigns for years and decided it was time to run,” said Murphy, 46.

Worley announced earlier this week that he would not seek re-election to the 34th Senate District seat, which includes Madison, Lincoln and Rockcastle counties. He said he wanted to spend more time with his family and is being encouraged to run for the office of secretary of state next year.

Murphy is president of Chapel Communications, an Internet provider service, and Kindred Creek Partners, which owns Fantastic Sam salons in Richmond, Winchester and Lexington.

Worley won’t seek re-election; may consider bid for secretary of state

FRANKFORT — Senate Minority Leader Ed Worley, D-Richmond, said Wednesday that he will not seek re-election to the state Senate after serving in the chamber since 1999.

Worley said people are encouraging him to run for secretary of state next year but it’s too early to say if he will take that advice.

“I’m trying now to serve in the Senate and finish out my term the best that I can,” said Worley, 53, a general contractor.

Worley said potential opponents in a Senate race this year were not a factor in his decision not to seek re-election.