All Entries in the "Republican Party" 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.

David Williams will remain Kentucky Senate President in 2012

By Jack Brammer
jbrammer@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — Senate President David Williams, who lost a bid for governor this year, will keep his leadership position in the legislature.

Williams, a Burkesville Republican who has headed the Senate since 2000, said after a retreat Thursday for Senate Republicans that there will be no leadership changes in the Senate.

He said no Republican leader faced a challenge.

Tea Party candidate says he will run against Thayer

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — An electrical contractor with ties to the Tea Party has filed paperwork with the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance to run in the Republican primary against Sen. Damon Thayer of Georgetown.

Ricky Hostetler, who lost the Republican primary to Rep. Ryan Quarles in the 62nd House District race in 2010, will seek the Republican nomination for the 17th Senate district that currently includes Scott, Grant, Owen and part of Kenton County. Hostetler filed his paperwork with the registry to begin raising funds for the May 22 primary on Nov. 21.

After dud election, Tea Party activists want more influence in Kentucky GOP

By Jack Brammer
jbrammer@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — Loyalists in Kentucky’s Tea Party movement who helped propel Republican Rand Paul to the U.S. Senate last year say they share no blame for the GOP’s poor showing in Tuesday’s state elections, especially in the race for governor.

Instead, they point to the Republican Party establishment, which they say too often backs and fields candidates who don’t adhere to their call for limited government and fiscal responsibility.

“I’m a registered Republican but my reasoning for Tuesday’s loss is that we saw an establishment candidate, Republican David Williams, get rejected by the Tea Party,” said Lexington conservative radio talk show host Leland Conway. “The establishment part of the Republican Party of Kentucky needs to learn that its candidates have to be true conservatives for the Tea Party to line up behind them and to win.”

Such comments reflect the Tea Party movement’s continuing efforts to gain influence in the Grand Old Party, which dominates the state’s delegation in Washington D.C. but has won Kentucky’s governor’s office only twice since World War II.

Election night coverage #kyelect

We’ll have up-to-the-minute vote results starting at 6 p.m. on Kentucky.com.

Also, reporter Rich Copley will be filing reports on this blog from the Democratic Party rally in Frankfort tonight. Reporter Greg Kocher will have the latest from the Republican Party rally in Lexington.

Rich, Greg and the entire Bluegrass Politics team will be tweeting at @bgpolitics.

Have a great evening.

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Judge lifts ban on political group’s TV ads

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

FRANKFORT — A Kentucky judge agreed on Thursday to lift a restraining order that barred an outside political group from running campaign advertisements in the state.

At a hearing Thursday, Franklin Circuit Court Judge Thomas Wingate agreed to lift his restraining order against Restoring America after the group disclosed that its sole donor was the father-in-law of Republican gubernatorial candidate David Williams. The group has spent more than $1.3 million to air television ads critical of Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear and complimentary of Williams.

Restoring America filed an amended 32-day pre-election campaign finance report late Wednesday showing that Terry Stephens, a Russell County businessman, was the sole contributor of $1.365 million to Restoring America Inc., which was originally listed as Restoring America’s sole donor.

Stephens has given more than $2.3 million to groups pushing his son-in-law for governor.

Richie Farmer determined to bounce back after tough year

By Jack Brammer
jbrammer@herald-leader.com

Editor’s Note: This is the second in a series of stories about candidates for lieutenant governor.

FRANKFORT — Of all his 42 years, this one has been the toughest for Richie Farmer.

“I’d be lying if I said anything different,” said the Kentucky basketball icon who is about to wrap up eight years as state agriculture commissioner and is hoping to become Kentucky’s next lieutenant governor.

Farmer has endured personal upheaval and public pillorying while running on a ticket this year with Republican gubernatorial nominee David Williams.

As his wife of 13 years filed for divorce this spring, the media and Democrats dogged Farmer with questions about spending in his state office. The controversial purchases range from refrigerators and televisions to hotel stays and conference trips. He claims all of them were appropriate to his job.

While his office’s signature program, Kentucky Proud, has been praised for dramatically increasing the visibility of Kentucky-grown farm products, political opponents say the program spent too much money promoting Farmer.

Beshear says there’s no effort to force state employees to give

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — Gov. Steve Beshear said Monday that there has been no effort by his re-election campaign to coerce state employees to give to his campaign.

“We have over 12,000 people now who have contributed to our campaign,” Beshear said in a Monday interview with the Herald-Leader editorial board. “There is not a soul who gets a job because he gives us money and there’s nobody who loses a job because he doesn’t give us money. We don’t operate like that, we’ve never had and we’re not going to. It’s that simple.”

The Democratic governor said he believes state employees have given to his campaign because they support his administration and do not like his chief opponent, Republican Senate President David Williams.

“We have state employees that are contributing to us because I think they like what we’ve done,” Beshear said. “Senator Williams, time and again, has said what he thinks about state employees. It’s no secret that he’s not a favorite of state employees because of his statements and his actions.”

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.

Williams says bad press has hurt his campaign

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — Trailing badly in the polls, Republican David Williams said on Monday that a decade of bad press has hurt his campaign for the state’s top office.

In an interview with the Herald-Leader’s editorial board, the Republican nominee for governor said he has been unfairly portrayed as a bully by the media.

The Burkesville native, who has been president of the state Senate since 2000 and was first elected to the legislature in 1985, said he often shouldered the blame and political heat for unpopular stances taken by the Senate Republican caucus.

“Y’all have helped beat the hell out of me,” Williams said, referring to the media.