All Entries in the "Republican Party" Category

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.

Williams calls for elimination of corporate, personal income taxes in new jobs plan

By Jack Brammer
jbrammer@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT – Republican nominee for governor David Williams wants to eliminate state personal and corporate income taxes as part of his plan to create and retain jobs in Kentucky.

Williams’ plan, released Wednesday, also recommends several short-term tax suspensions designed to jumpstart Kentucky’s job market and several changes in the law, including allowing local voters to decide if their county should have a right-to-work laws. The plan also allows local voters to decide if local governments should have to pay the prevailing wage for public works projects.

Williams faces Democratic incumbent Gov. Steve Beshear and independent Gatewood Galbraith in the Nov. 8 general election.

The plan also calls for creation of a commission of economic and tax experts to come up with a new state and local tax structure that would receive an up-or-down vote in the legislature.

Challenge to Libertarian Treasurer candidacy dropped

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — A lawsuit challenging the petitions supporting the candidacy of Libertarian Treasurer candidate Ken Moellman was dropped on Monday.

KC Crosbie, the Republican candidate for Treasurer and a Lexington Urban County Councilwoman, said in a written release that she asked two Republicans to drop the lawsuit because it could take months to resolve. Fayette County Republican Chairwoman Carol Rogers and DeAnna Brangers filed the lawsuit last week, alleging that half of the 8,100 signatures Moellman collected for his nominating petition are either flawed or fictitious. State law says that most independent and third-party candidates must have 5,000 signatures and addresses of registered voters in order to be on the ballot.

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.

GOP wants expanded review of Beshear’s fundraising

By Roger Alford
Associated Press Writer

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear’s fundraising continued to draw criticism from the GOP on Monday, with a new complaint alleging improprieties in the way some of his $5 million-plus in campaign contributions were gathered.

Republican Party Chairman Steve Robertson filed the latest complaint with the Executive Branch Ethics Commission, charging that another Beshear aide has solicited contributions from state employees in violation of state law. He had previously made that accusation against two other aides.

Beshear, who is seeking a second term in the Nov. 8 election, has raised far more than either of his opponents, Republican David Williams and independent Gatewood Galbraith.

The latest complaint involves Jerry Graves, a deputy commissioner in the Kentucky Finance and Administration Cabinet who was recently promoted to executive director of the Kentucky River Authority. Robertson claims Graves solicited contributions from state workers on two separate occasions since December. Graves didn’t return a telephone call or email seeking comment.

The complaint led to one of the sharpest exchanges of the campaign season, with both sides alleging criminal wrongdoing against the other.

Former Florida Gov. Bush will appear at Aug. 25 fundraiser for Williams-Farmer campaign

By Jack Brammer
jbrammer@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — Former Florida GovernorJeb Bush will appear at a fund-raiser for the Republican gubernatorial slate of David Williams and Richie Farmer and the state Republican Party on Aug. 25 in Louisville, the campaign said Wednesday.

U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Louisville also will headline the event, which will be held at 6 p.m. at a private home in Louisville. Ticket prices range from $250 to $1,000 a person.

“We are thrilled to have Governor Bush and Senator McConnell headline what is sure to be a great event in Louisville,” said Williams-Farmer campaign chairman Donald Storm, who is a retired adjutant general of the Kentucky National Guard. “Gov. Bush’s leadership on economic and education policy in Florida should be of particular interest to many people.”

Kentucky GOP Chairman Steve Robertson said Bush, the brother of former President George W. Bush and son of former President George Bush, represented “a great example of how interested national Republican leaders are in electing solid conservatives up and down the ticket this year.”

Nov. 22 trial date set in Richie Farmer divorce case

By Jack Brammer
jbrammer@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — A judge set a Nov. 22 trial date Tuesday in Rebecca Farmer’s divorce case against state Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer.

Franklin Family Court Judge Squire Williams also scheduled a mediation hearing Sept. 29 for the couple.

Richie Farmer, a former University of Kentucky basketball star from Clay County, is a candidate for lieutenant governor on the gubernatorial ticket of Republican David Williams.

Rebecca Farmer’s attorney, Brian A. Logan of Frankfort, wanted the trial date to be scheduled sooner. In response, the commissioner’s attorney, Richard Guarnieri of Frankfort, asserted in a hearing Tuesday that Logan wanted the trial before the Nov. 8 general election to get an advantage.

Logan said the assertion was “completely untrue.”

David Williams’ campaign manager leaves

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — The campaign manager for Republican gubernatorial hopeful David Williams has left the campaign, its chairman confirmed Thursday.

Luke Marchant, a political consultant with strong ties to the Tea Party movement, is leaving to pursue other opportunities, said former state Adjutant General Donald Storm, the chairman of the campaign.

Marchant, who was hired by the Williams’ campaign after the May primary, previously served as political director for Marco Rubio’s successful U.S. Senate race last year in Florida.

Storm’s statement said there were no other changes in the campaign staff, despite rumors in Frankfort that the campaign had a top-to-bottom shakeup. Recent polls have shown Williams trailing Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear by a wide margin.

Odds ‘n’ ends from 131st Fancy Farm picnic

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

FANCY FARM – The political stew during the weekend’s 131st annual Fancy Farm political picnic included the Bible, a heckler and zingers that the audience devour with glee.

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The most spirited speaker at the Graves County Democratic Breakfast that kicked off Saturday’s political events was state House Speaker Greg Stumbo of Prestonsburg, who is not running for office this year.

Stumbo said he was tired of Republicans saying people can’t be a Christian and a Democrat.

The Bible teaches kindness, sharing, humility and humanity, Stumbo said. He said the Bible does not say whether Jesus was a Democrat or Republican, but “he was a carpenter and teacher,” to loud applause from teachers and union members in the audience.

Stumbo also said the Bible is filled with symbols.

“Mary didn’t ride no elephant to Bethlehem that night,” he said. (Mary rode a donkey).