Free Republic

As Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jack Conway seeks separation between himself and an unpopular president in one of two new television ads released on Tuesday, the Republican Governors Association is attempting the opposite in a competing spot unveiled the same day. Conway’s campaign released two 30-second ads that are set to air statewide in a six-figure buy. In one, titled “Fiscal,” Conway pledges to “hold the line on taxes” and touts his office’s record of winning high-dollar judgements during his two terms while the other, called “Coal,” highlights his decision to sue the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for proposed regulations on...

Americans for Prosperity says Jack Conway would lead Kentucky in wrong direction in pre-Fancy Farm Web ad, mailer The Kentucky chapter of the conservative 501(c )(4) Americans for Prosperity has launched a digital and direct-mail campaign ahead of this year’s Fancy Farm festivities, hoping to connect Democratic Attorney General Jack Conway with President Barack Obama in the minds of voters. AFP released a digital ad titled “You’re Going The Wrong Way, Jack Conway” on Friday, depicting Conway as a supporter of cap-and-trade legislation, the Affordable Care Act and high-dollar government spending. Julia Crigler, AFP Kentucky state director, said the group...

Gubernatorial candidates Matt Bevin and Jack Conway traded barbs and accused one another of spreading mistruths during Thursday’s “Measure the Candidates” forum hosted by the Kentucky Farm Bureau. In their second public appearance as their parties’ nominees, the pair touched on topics such as tax exemptions, tort reform, health care and rural infrastructure, with Conway continually seeking to present contradictory stances from his opponent while Bevin repeatedly urged the audience in the KFB boardroom and watching online to visit his website and learn about his views. And when their own words weren’t enough, they reached for quotations from others to...

Republican gubernatorial candidate Matt Bevin is taking lumps for critical comments he made about last year’s U.S. farm bill a day before he meets Democratic Attorney General Jack Conway at a gubernatorial forum hosted by the Kentucky Farm Bureau. The Kentucky Democratic Party organized a conference call on Wednesday with two farmers supporting Conway’s candidacy, Democratic Harrison County Judge-Executive Alex Barnett and 2007 Democratic agriculture commissioner candidate David Neville. The trio heaped criticism on Bevin based on a February 2014 Associated Press report in which the Louisville investment manager said the country is “becoming more and more dependent on the...

The Republican Attorneys General Association is keeping up their mid-July ad barrage against Democratic candidate Andy Beshear, seeking to bring attention to Beshear’s background. In the ad, the group specifically targets who Beshear would represent as attorney general. The 30-second spot points to a lack of law enforcement experience for the candidate, who is an attorney with Louisville-based Stites and Harbison. “How about the special interests bankrolling his campaign raising questions of ethics? Or the companies he’s worked for but would oversee as attorney general,” a narrator in the 30-second ad says. When asked by Pure Politics and other media...

Gov. Beshear tells county clerks to set aside convictions of same-sex marriage but won't share his own views on subject FRANKFORT — Despite telling the few county clerks who still refuse to issue marriage licenses to set aside their personal beliefs on same-sex marriage and perform their duties, Gov. Steve Beshear on Tuesday twice declined to say whether he followed his own advice when he decided to appeal a 2014 federal court ruling overturning Kentucky’s ban on same-sex marriage. Beshear, whose second term as governor ends in December, continually brushed aside questions on his personal views toward same-sex marriage as...

LOUISVILLE (WHAS11) – A pedicure received by Kentucky Attorney General Candidate Whitney Westerfield before his 2009 wedding is the focus of an attack ad launched Monday, July 20, by the Kentucky Democratic Party. Calling pedicures Westerfield's "secret guilty pleasure," the ad relies on a report by CN2 that showed criticism of Westerfield by a former co-worker in his personnel file as an assistant Commonwealth's Attorney that alleged Westerfield's "'personal interests often [took] priority over work duties,'" including "'Teeth Cleaning vs. Jury Trial,' 'Pedicure vs. Arraignments,' and 'Cell Phone in Court.'" Westerfield is the Republican nominee for Kentucky Attorney General. He...

The campaign of Democratic attorney general candidate Andy Beshear is attempting to have an ad by the Republican Attorneys General Association removed from Lexington airwaves. The ad first was launched on Tuesday in the Lexington market where the 30-second spot is airing on: WLEX-TV, WKYT-TV and WTVQ-TV. As previously reported, the spot highlights Republican candidate Whitney Westerfield, a Hopkinsville attorney and the state Senate Judiciary chairman, as having spent time as a prosecutor “who put criminals behind bars.” The ad targets Beshear for having a lack of law enforcement experience, having a campaign “funded by special interests he would oversee...

LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) - Republican Matt Bevin is a slight favorite to win Kentucky's race for governor this year, according to a group that analyzes political races. The Center for Politics, led by prominent political scientist Larry Sabato, on Thursday moved the race from "toss-up" to "leans Republican." Bevin, a Louisville businessman, faces Democratic Attorney General Jack Conway. "The national Democratic brand is toxic in Kentucky," analysts from Sabato's Crystal Ball said. "Bluegrass Democrats will want to keep the race local, but the U.S. Supreme Court’s same-sex marriage ruling created an opening for Bevin to connect Conway to national politics."...

The event was touted as a gubernatorial forum and its logo featured the mascots of both political parties, but those who lined the pews of Crescent Hill Baptist Church on Tuesday only heard from one candidate: Republican Matt Bevin. The Louisville investment manager had the stage to himself for more than an hour, touching topics like poverty, health care, drug abuse and early childhood education in front of officials from myriad non-profits and community groups at the forum hosted by the Council of Agency Executives. Donovan Fornwalt, chief executive officer of the Council on Developmental Disabilities and public policy chairman...

While advocating diversity in politics Saturday before the Kentucky Black Caucus meeting in Radcliff, GOP gubernatorial candidate Matt Bevin said he was against extending equal protection to the LGBT workforce. Asked afterward if he was OK with an individual being fired because of sexual orientation, Bevin said, “I believe in equal opportunity under the law,” and in the forum said he believed in protecting religious freedoms. “I think we have laws that protect everybody’s rights and that they should continue to exist just as they do,” he said in an interview. During the forum, Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor Sannie...

With an 8 paragraph long statement Republican candidate for governor Matt Bevin is siding with county clerks in their request to issue marriage licenses for same-sex couples online. Bevin, who initially expressed disappointment in the U.S. Supreme Court decision allow same-sex couples to be married, said his first thought is that the “government should be out of the marriage business altogether.” “We can comply with the law while protecting our citizens’ rights to freedom of religion simply by separating the religious covenant of marriage from the legal, contractual relationship established by marriage as recognized by the state,” Bevin said. “The...

FRANKFORT – Fifty-seven county clerks form every region of the commonwealth sent a formal letter to Gov. Steve Beshear on Wednesday requesting that he immediately call for a special session of the General Assembly to address issues relating to issuing same-sex marriage licenses. Casey County Clerk Casey Davis, who has stopped issuing marriage licenses altogether to avoid issuing them to same-sex couples, visited with Beshear in Frankfort on Thursday where Beshear reiterated his stance that he will not call a special session on the subject. Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis, who is the other judge-executive who has chosen not to...

The Kentucky Democratic Party has launched its first targeted digital ad against Matt Bevin piggybacking on U.S. Mitch McConnell’s 2014 GOP primary campaign’s efforts to label the Republican candidate a “pathological liar.” The KDP has strung together a video featuring news clips and interviews targeting Bevin on tax delinquencies; his attendance at a pro-cockfighting rally; claims that he attended MIT; and others. “Matt Bevin’s flagrant dishonesty, deceit and self-interested political agenda is exactly why Kentuckians cannot trust him to look out for us as governor,” said Kentucky Democratic Party Chairman Patrick Hughes in a statement. “Whether Bevin is lying about...

The Republican Governor’s Association is launching its first ad of the gubernatorial campaign seeking to tie Democratic candidate Jack Conway to President Barack Obama. The ad titled: “Vague” is running statewide in what the RGA is calling a significant ad buy across broadcast and cable networks. In the spot the RGA follows a similar track that has been used against Conway in past Elections. The group attempts to tie Conway to Obama saying the two Democrats are similar in their “vague promises. The RGA ad specifically targets Conway over cap and trade. Cap-and-trade is essentially putting a limit on greenhouse...

Richard F. Dawahare wants University of Kentucky games pulled from WLAP, the home of all things Wildcats and KSR’s radio shows (morning, pregame and postgame) in Lexington. Dawahare, an attorney, writes, “It is no secret that these stations are exclusive provinces of conservative ideology. They spew propaganda with a breathtaking lack of regard for truth and with a pervasive tone of contempt and ridicule for those with a different perspective.”

OUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- WDRB News has obtained an e-mail message that was distributed to Humana employees this morning, after news of a proposed sale of Humana to Aetna became public. The e-mail was from Bruce Broussard, the president and CEO of Humana. The text of that e-mail is reproduced below: (Click HERE to also view a FAQ that was distributed to stakeholders.) A Message from Bruce Broussard Today marks an important and exciting day in our company’s history. We have just announced that Aetna and Humana will merge to create a new healthcare organization. While there are many reasons...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell issued a statement Friday morning, saying he predicted the "type of consolidation" exhibited by the proposed sale of Humana to Aetna and pointed to the Affordable Care Act as the root cause. McConnell's statement reads as follows: "For more than 30 years, Humana has been a cornerstone of economic growth and a great philanthropic partner in our community. This morning’s announcement, as I predicted during the debate five years ago, is the inevitable result of Obamacare’s push toward consolidation as doctors, hospitals, and insurers merge in response to an ever-growing government."

PPP's first poll of the general election for Governor in Kentucky finds a toss up race. Republican Matt Bevin gets 38% to 35% for Democrat Jack Conway, with independent Drew Curtis getting 6%. In a two person race with Curtis taken out of the mix, Bevin's lead over Conway is 40/38. More than 20% of voters are undecided and that's a function of neither candidate being particularly well known. Even after a pair of terms as Attorney General, a 35% plurality of voters in Kentucky have no opinion about Conway with those who do have one pretty evenly divided on...

This week the nation reels over the murder of praying Christians in an historic African-American church in Charleston, South Carolina. At the same time, one of the issues hurting many is the Confederate Battle Flag flying at full-mast from the South Carolina Capitol grounds even in the aftermath of this racist act of violence on innocent people. This raises the question of what we as Christians ought to think about the Confederate Battle Flag, given the fact that many of us are from the South. The flag of my home state of Mississippi contains the Confederate Battle Flag as part...