All Entries in the "Trey Grayson" Category

Conway, Paul rally supporters at Fancy Farm

PHOTO SLIDESHOW

By Jack Brammer and Bill Estep – jbrammer@herald-leader.com

FANCY FARM – The candidates in Kentucky’s hotly contested U.S. Senate race set the tone for a lively election season this fall with biting stem-winders delivered to a raucous crowd at the 130th annual Fancy Farm picnic in Graves County.

Democrat Jack Conway and Republican Rand Paul leveled charges at one another that will become steady drumbeats over the next three months.

Conway described Paul’s beliefs as “risky and radical” and said Paul “waffles and backpedals when his risky ideas are exposed.”

Paul tied Conway to an unpopular President Barack Obama and U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and urged Conway to stand with Pelosi on federal health care legislation and environmental legislation known as “cap and trade.”

“I say to Nancy Pelosi: ‘Come on down to Kentucky,” Paul said. “Campaign with Jack. You can talk about cap and trade and Obamacare all you want. Good luck on that one Jack.”

Filing deadline is Aug. 10 for independent, third-party candidates

FRANKFORT — Aug. 10 is the filing deadline for candidates who want to run as an independent or third-party candidate for partisan offices, who want to file for non-partisan races that do not have primary elections or who want to seek an office with a recent vacancy.

“I would encourage all interested and eligible citizens to get their required paperwork into our office as soon as possible, if they are interested in running for one of these offices,” Secretary of State Trey Grayson said Tuesday.

Candidates that file with the secretary of state must do so by no later than 4 p.m. EDT for placement on the 2010 general election ballot. Candidates for offices that file with the local county clerk will have until 4 p.m. local time to complete their filings.

Speakers confirmed for Fancy Farm political picnic

Gov. Steve Beshear and the two candidates for U.S. Senate — Democratic Jack Conway and Republican Rand Paul – will headline the speakers at the Aug. 7 Fancy Farm political picnic in Graves County.

Mark Wilson, political chairman for the picnic that traditionally starts the fall election campaigns, has released a list of confirmed speakers. The event, on the grounds of St. Jerome Catholic Church in Fancy Farm, is free to the public.

Graviss returns contributions for terminated secretary of state race

FRANKFORT – Versailles businessman Joe Graviss, who withdrew last week as a Democratic candidate for secretary of state in 2011, has returned to contributors about $10,200 in funds for his aborted campaign.

Graviss, who is a franchise owner for five McDonalds restaurants in Lexington, two in Frankfort and one in Versailles, said Monday that he has sent checks and a personal note to all his contributors in the race for the state’s top elections official.

Graviss said in the note that he is “sad and disappointed” to announce the end of his campaign for secretary of state but that a “contractual obligation” with McDonald’s Corp. prevents him from running for statewide office.

Versailles businessman files for Secretary of State

FRANKFORT — A Versailles businessman who currently serves on the Council for Postsecondary Education has filed notice that he intends to run for Secretary of State.

Joe Graviss, a Democrat who has run for public office before, filed a letter with the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance on Wednesday signaling his intent to start raising money for the 2011 election for Secretary of State.

Secretary of State Trey Grayson, who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate this week, can’t run for the position because he has served the two terms the Constitution allows.

Paul supporters celebrate victory

BOWLING GREEN — A big cheer erupted from supporters at Republican Rand Paul’s election headquarters when Fox News called the GOP U.S. Senate primary election for him at 7:48 p.m. EDT.

Three minutes earlier, a TV at the Paul rally showed the vote as 58 percent for Paul and 36 percent for Secretary Trey Grayson. People were watching a big screen TV on the patio of the Bowling Green Country Club.

Paul had not yet arrived at the celebration.

Some Paul supporters said they were surprised that U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell of Louisville didn’t work harder and earlier for Grayson.

“I think him not coming out earlier cost (Grayson) the race,” said Aaron Whitten, a businessman in Grayson County who worked as an organizer for Paul.

Paul campaign predicts GOP will be united in the fall

BOWLING GREEN — The Rand Paul campaign for U.S. Senate, which railed against the Republican establishment, thinks Republicans will unite behind him in the fall campaign.

Paul’s campaign manager, David Adams, said Tuesday night that he has talked with state GOP officials about the November general election.

“We’re very confident that the Republican Party will be united behind Rand in the fall,” Adams said as Paul was holding a substantial lead over chief rival Trey Grayson early in the Republican primary election.

All eyes on Kentucky U.S. Senate race on eve of election

By Jack Brammer – jbrammer@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — The national media are flocking to Kentucky to see if Tea Party movement favorite Rand Paul can capture the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate Tuesday and rattle the state’s GOP establishment.

Meanwhile, the Democratic race for U.S. Senate in the state between Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo and Attorney Jack Conway is going down to the mire as well as the wire.

Kentucky voters will go to the polls Tuesday to select their party nominees for the Nov. 2 general election. They will be voting on congressional races, dozens of state legislative races a handful of judicial races and numerous local races, included mayoral primaries in Lexington and Louisville.

Voter turnout in Kentucky is expected to be about 30 percent, said Les Fugate of the secretary of state’s office.

The most attention will be on the U.S. Senate races.

McConnell says Kagan’s views must be explored

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky was on Meet The Press this morning to talk about the Supreme Court nomination of Elena Kagan, the offshore drilling disaster in the Gulf of Mexico and Tuesday’s election in Kentucky.

McConnell, who has endorsed Secretary of State Trey Grayson in the GOP primary for U.S. Senate, said he doesn’t know who will win the race even though public polling shows Bowling Green eye surgeon Rand Paul with a double-digit lead over Grayson.

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Voter’s Guide 2010: Compare the candidates on the issues

• U.S. SENATE: Democrats Candidates were asked to answer each question in 40 words or fewer. Compiled by Jack Brammer.

• U.S. SENATE: Republicans Candidates were asked to answer each question in 40 words or fewer. Compiled by Jack Brammer.

• STATE HOUSE (Fayette County) There are three competitive primaries for state House districts that cover portions of Fayette County. Compiled by Beth Musgrave.

• ON THE BALLOT These are the candidates in state and federal primary races. Also listed are candidates in county and city races in Fayette, Bourbon, Clark, Franklin, Jessamine, Madison, Scott and Woodford counties.

• URBAN COUNTY COUNCIL: Council At Large Voters may cast a ballot for three council-at-large candidates. The top six vote-getters will advance. Compiled by Beverly Fortune.

• 6th CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT: Republicans Candidates were asked to answer each question in 40 words or fewer. Compiled by John Cheves.

• LEXINGTON MAYOR Candidates were asked to answer each question in 40 words or fewer. Compiled by Andy Mead. Also: State Senate (Fayette County) can be found at the bottom of the PDF.