Posted on 05/03/2015 12:26:19 PM PDT by Republican Wildcat
As throngs of Kentucky Derby-goers packed Churchill Downs on Saturday, Kentucky Democrats are enjoying another race that could come down to the wire later this month: the Republican gubernatorial primary.
“It’s a lot of fun,” House Speaker Greg Stumbo said of the four-way GOP primary.
Gov. Steve Beshear added: “They’re having a good time it looks like among the four of them going back and forth.”
This year’s race for the governorship is an oddity, with only Attorney General Jack Conway seeking the Democratic nomination among prominent contenders after a rich history of competitive primaries when that office is open.
“We’ve obviously in the Democratic Party in Kentucky had a number of contested primaries,” said Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg. “It’s sort of fun to watch them go through the same transition that we had to go through.”
But Republicans have bruised one another in gubernatorial primaries. Former U.S. Rep. Anne Northup’s challenge against then-Gov. Ernie Fletcher in 2007, for instance, created a rift between some in the party that’s reemerged in this year’s primary.
Agriculture Commissioner James Comer backed Northup, and he recently criticized former Fletcher aides who support one of his opponents, former Louisville Metro Councilman Hal Heiner. Comer, though, has employed former Fletcher staffers to the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, and he told reporters his remarks were not aimed at everyone who worked under Fletcher and he called the second Republican governor in nearly 50 years “a good man.”
(Excerpt) Read more at mycn2.com ...
I expected that woman with the mouth that stretched from ear to ear to run. I forget her name. The one McConnell beat like a drum,
KY Republicans have won the governorship only twice since 1943 (not counting 1943): 1967 and 2003. History is strongly on the side of the KY “democracy”.
Alison Lundergan Grimes... the Secretary of State...she opted to run for re-election to that same office. She should have been beatable with her sky-high negatives, but no top-tier candidates stepped up to run against her.
Who is the real Republican running?
KY Republicans always try to give “a pass” to a Democrat incumbent: they did that for years with St. Wendell Ford.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.