Posted on 06/06/2003 11:08:45 AM PDT by JohnnyZ
Unlike the recent primary, a general election is about allowing voters to choose the candidate they think is the best choice for an elected position, Greg Ginter said. It’s not just about voting for your party’s candidate.
And because of that, Ginter said he resigned his position as chair of the Madison County Democratic Party to support Republican Congressman Ernie Fletcher’s campaign for governor.
Ginter said he made the decision and submitted his resignation the day after the primary election because he did not feel it would be appropriate for him to support Fletcher and maintain his position as chair. “I’m trying to do what’s right and support the person I think is the best person to run the Commonwealth of Kentucky,” Ginter said.
Ginter has been chair of the party for three years and an active member for the past 30 years.
Ginter said he hasn’t taken an official position with the Fletcher campaign, but will simply support Fletcher in his quest to be Kentucky’s first Republican governor in since Louie Nunn served in the office from 1967 to 1971.
“He reminds me of a conservative Democrat,” Ginter said of Fletcher. “I think he has a new vision for Kentucky, and I’m looking forward to trying to help him accomplish that.”
Ginter, who was commissioner of the state’s Alcoholic Beverage Commission when Gov. Paul Patton took office in 1998 and served as deputy secretary and secretary of the state’s tourism cabinet under Gov. Brereton Jones, said he will not change his voter registration to Republican. Ginter said Fletcher would be “perfect” for Kentucky with the upcoming economic times, and he likes where Fletcher stands on supporting farmers, senior citizens and teachers.
“He knows that education is still the number one priority,” Ginter said. “Giving teachers the tools they need is very important. He believes in that.” Ginter said he also believes that, if elected, Fletcher will serve as a non-partisan governor, not taking sides with one political party over the other.
Sarah Farris, vice-chair of the democratic party in Madison County, said she has received a resignation letter from Ginter, and the group has started the process of electing a new leader.
“We will hopefully get together within the next couple of weeks, and we hope to have a chair in place before the end of June,” Farris said.
Fletcher received 2,262 Madison County votes in the primary, or 84.75 percent of the Republican vote. His Democratic challenger, Attorney General Ben Chandler, received 2,371 Madison County votes, or 50.81 percent of the Democratic vote. Voters are only allowed to vote for members of their affiliated party in a primary election. Wes Irvin, a spokesman for the Fletcher campaign, said the news of Democratic support in Madison County for the Fletcher campaign is exciting.
“We’re excited to be seeing this kind of movement around Kentucky,” Irvin said. “Even Democrats in leadership roles see the Fletcher/Pence ticket as the only ticket that’s going to offer real hope and opportunity for all Kentuckians.”
Irvin said the Fletcher campaign reaches out to everyone, regardless of their party affiliation.
“Ernie said on election night his campaign is about Democrats, Republicans and independents,” Irvin said. “We’re going to reach out to everyone and welcome everyone to our campaign. It’s not going to be about a special few or a special few political insiders. The Fletcher/Pence team is running to restore hope for every Kentuckian.”
Barbara Hadley Smith, Chandler’s campaign spokesperson, said she is not surprised to hear of Ginter’s resignation.
“Mr. Ginter resigned his state position during a very public investigation by the attorney general’s office,” Hadley Smith said. “We’re not surprised he’s not supporting Ben’s candidacy, and is working on behalf of our opponent.”
In 1998, the state ethics commission found Ginter — who was then ABC commissioner — guilty of violating the ethics code and fined him $2,000 for helping obtain free bottles of bourbon from a distillery.
Chandler was Attorney General at that time, but was not a member of the ethics commission.
“To my knowledge, my mistake has nothing to do with Ben Chandler,” Ginter said. “It was my mistake. If I had known I was doing wrong, I wouldn’t have done it. I did pay for my mistake and have moved on since then. And that has nothing to do with me supporting Ernie Fletcher for governor.
“I’m a lot more concerned about the future of Kentucky than the history,” Ginter said.
I wonder what's taking so long!
I'm hoping this means that Fletcher is up by double digits and that Republicans don't want to release that data so as not to cause overconfidence; and that the RATS don't want to release that data for obvious reasons.
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