Free Republic

Full disclosure: I have done some writing for Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher. If you think politics is hardball at the national level, you ought to take a lesson from what goes on in the states. Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher was defeated for re-election last night by longtime pol Steve Beshear–not that the name matters; pretty much any Democrat was going to win this time around. That’s because Governor Fletcher made the first good, hard pass at dismantling a grim, grimy and rough-as-gravel political culture that determines who gets jobs and what gets done in the state capital of Frankfort. Fletcher...

As Kentucky voters prepare to go to the polls next week, they appear ready to elect a new Governor. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey shows former Lt. Governor Steven Beshear (D) leading incumbent Governor Ernie Fletcher (R) 54% to 39% in the 2007 Kentucky Governor’s race . Fletcher, elected in 2003 on a promise to "clean up the mess in Frankfort", was indicted a year ago in an alleged scheme to reward political supporters with protected state jobs. Fletcher called the indictment a political witch hunt and the indictment was dismissed in a negotiated settlement with prosecutors. Beshear, a...

by Steven ErteltLifeNews.com EditorOctober 5, 2007 Frankfort, KY (LifeNews.com) -- Kentucky's gubernatorial candidates, abortion advocate Steve Beshear and pro-life Gov. Ernie Fletcher, debated the issue of abortion on Wednesday in a televised debate. Beshear, a Democrat, tried to play down his pro-abortion views in a state that is strongly pro-life, regardless of political party.Kentucky is one of just handful of states to have significant off-year elections this year."Abortion is a tragedy anytime it happens, under any circumstances, and as governor, I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that women have choices other than that," Beshear said in...

The candidates for governor launched the television phase of the campaign yesterday with Democrat Steve Beshear offering a familiar message of changing leadership and Republican Gov. Ernie Fletcher promising to tell a story about the ills of casinos. Both of the ads' messages echo the candidates' core arguments so far in the race. Beshear started airing his ad, called Right Thing, yesterday morning on most network affiliates statewide. "People are desperate for leaders, real leaders, who can bring us together to make Kentucky better," Beshear says in the ad, which is a standard campaign-type commercial that features Beshear first talking...

KENTUCKY: A new Insider Advantage poll shows the gubernatorial contest is narrowing. The latest numbers: former Lieutenant Governor Steve Beshear (D) - 41%, Governor Ernie Fletcher (R) - 38%.

Kentucky's Attorney General has been pursuing an investigation of Gov. Ernie Fletcher (R) since last year; in May, he finally won an indictment charging political favoritism in Fletcher's administration. Today, he got bad news. From the AP: A judge on Thursday dismissed charges against Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher that had accused him of breaking state law by basing personnel decisions on political considerations. A lawyer for the Republican governor had been negotiating a settlement to the misdemeanor charges for the past two days, Democratic state Attorney General Greg Stumbo said Thursday. The special judge assigned to the case, David E....

FRANKFORT, Ky. - Gov. Ernie Fletcher, criminally charged with rewarding political supporters with protected state jobs, cannot be tried while in office, a judge said Friday as he rejected the governor's motion to throw out the charges. Special Judge David E. Melcher's ruling creates a legal limbo for Kentucky's first Republican governor in three decades as he seeks a second term next year. Fletcher can't be convicted, but he can't clear his name, either. "It just creates a continuing cloud," said Jack Richardson, chairman of the Jefferson County Republican Party. "You're running for re-election as an indicted governor, and the...

. FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Gov. Ernie Fletcher, under fire for a hiring scandal, is protected by executive immunity and cannot be prosecuted while in office, a judge ruled Friday. Fletcher, Kentucky’s first Republican governor in three decades, was indicted in May on charges alleging his administration rewarded political supporters with protected state jobs. He has accused the Democratic attorney general of conducting a politically motivated investigation in the case. Special Judge David E. Melcher essentially stayed the case until Fletcher’s term expires, or unless he is removed through impeachment by the legislature.

FRANKFORT, Ky. — The real risk in noodling, which involves sticking your arm into a catfish nesting hole and yanking out whatever swallows your fist, is not in getting caught doing it out of season, but in reaching too far into the hole and getting snagged by spiny fins. Just consider the case of Gov. Ernie Fletcher of Kentucky. A year ago, after being accused of illegally forcing Democrats out of state Civil Service jobs and giving the jobs to political loyalists, Mr. Fletcher, a Republican, dismissed the charges as little worse than noodling in March. (Noodling is legal only...

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - A grand jury indicted Gov. Ernie Fletcher on misdemeanor charges Thursday, accusing him of illegally rewarding political supporters with state jobs since taking office two years ago. Fletcher was charged with conspiracy, official misconduct and violating a prohibition against political discrimination. A conviction on any of the counts could lead to jail time and Fletcher's removal from office, said Vicki Glass, spokeswoman for the attorney general's office. Fletcher spokesman Brett Hall said the Republican governor was not surprised by the indictment, given Democratic Attorney General Greg Stumbo's ongoing investigation into the administration's hiring practices.

If the General Election was tomorrow, would you vote to re-elect Gov. Ernie Fletcher? Yes. No. I'm not sure Gov. Fletcher will survive the GOP primary. It depends on the Democratic candidate selected to run against him. Of course! In politics one bad Republican incumbent beats a pair of Democratic challengers hands down.

FRANKFORT - For the first time in the state hiring inquiry, investigators moved into Lt. Gov. Steve Pence's office as they served a search warrant on his chief of staff. Attorney general's office investigators removed a computer from Stephen Huffman's office this morning. At the same time, Transportation Cabinet personnel employee Missy McCray went before the special grand jury investigating the hiring practices of Gov. Ernie Fletcher's administration. McCray also testified last summer, just before several transportation officials were indicted for violating state merit laws, which say rank-and-file state workers must be hired based on qualifications, not politics. McCray later...

...Some 20 states... already have anti-price-gouging laws on their books-- and many governors have declared emergencies to invoke them. These de facto price controls typically place ceilings of between 10% and 25% on how much companies can raise prices in the wake of a natural disaster. In almost all cases such laws are wrong-headed, because they exacerbate supply problems by short-circuiting the price system that matches supply with demand. ...If governments will not allow the price system to ration the demand for gas, a new "price" system will emerge called gas lines.... Let's explain why prices have been rising. Katrina...

FRANKFORT, Ky. - Gov. Ernie Fletcher has been subpoenaed to appear before a special grand jury investigating his administration's hiring practices, the attorney general's office confirmed Friday. Nine current or former members of Fletcher's administration have been indicted on misdemeanor charges alleging violations of the state's Merit System personnel law. The indictments allege that they routinely plotted to circumvent the law requiring that state personnel decisions, including who gets hired for state jobs, fired or promoted, be made on the candidates' merits rather than on their political influence or support. Fletcher's name has appeared in e-mails presented to the grand...

FRANKFORT - Attorney general's investigators, armed with search warrants, confiscated boxes of documents from the Capitol offices of two key aides to Gov. Ernie Fletcher yesterday as part of a widening investigation of Transportation Cabinet hiring practices. The team of investigators targeted Richard Murgatroyd, Fletcher's deputy chief of staff who last year served as second in command of the Transportation Cabinet, and Dave Disponett, the governor's unpaid political adviser and treasurer of the state Republican Party.

Republican governors in a few spots across the country are angering state employees by removing one of organized labor's strongest tools — the right to collective bargaining. Governors in three states who've taken the step say it's about making government more efficient or being fair to non-union workers. Critics say it's political payback for labor's traditional support of Democrats and part of a wider shift to undermine workers in favor of big business. Within hours or days of taking office this year, Mitch Daniels in Indiana and Matt Blunt in Missouri eliminated collective bargaining agreements for state employees, affecting about...

Republican governors in a few spots across the country are angering state employees by removing one of organized labor's strongest tools — the right to collective bargaining. Governors in three states who've taken the step say it's about making government more efficient or being fair to non-union workers. Critics say it's political payback for labor's traditional support of Democrats and part of a wider shift to undermine workers in favor of big business. Within hours or days of taking office this year, Mitch Daniels in Indiana and Matt Blunt in Missouri eliminated collective bargaining agreements for state employees, affecting about...

Many current or former Senators and Representatives appear to have taken illegal Congressional salary payments during the current Congress, prior to the October recess. The chronically absent list is well-represented by candidates who ran for higher office, including those who ran for President or Vice President: Senators John Edwards (D-NC), Bob Graham (D-FL), John Kerry (D-MA), and Joseph Lieberman (D-CT), and Congressmen Richard Gephardt (D-MO) and Dennis Kucinich (D-OH). Senate candidates Brad Carson (D-OK), Mac Collins (R-GA), Jim DeMint (R-SC), Pete Deutsch (D-FL), Joseph Hoeffel (D-PA), Johnny Isakson (R-GA), Chris John (D-LA), Denise Majette (D-GA), George Nethercutt (R-WA), and Patrick...

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) -- Senate Republicans asserted their power in a disputed election Friday and seated Dana Seum Stephenson as a senator, acting quickly to swear her in and attach a large bronze nameplate to her desk.

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) -- Senate Republicans asserted their power in a disputed election Friday and seated Dana Seum Stephenson as a senator, acting quickly to swear her in and attach a large bronze nameplate to her desk.

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) -- A national advocate against taxes brought his message to Kentucky Thursday with a twist - casino gambling is not covered by the anti-tax pledge. Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform said his organization has signed pledges from 34 Kentucky House members and 17 senators against raising taxes. Gov. Ernie Fletcher, too, has signed the pledge. Norquist said Fletcher's pledge is intact as long as any tax proposal he makes does not raise any more money than it cuts. "So long as it's revenue neutral, it is perfectly consistent with the governor's pledge," Norquist said.

Newsflash: The election was about power. Two gangs of politicians and their supporters fought again over control of appointments to the Supreme Court. The one was mainly dependent on anti-abortion constituents, the other mainly on pro-abortion constituents. The pro-lifers won. Even though our gang took this round handily, it's time for us to really roll up our sleeves. The members of the democrat gang being addicted untrammeled power (the most powerful of drugs), they aren't about to give up, no matter how powerful the repudiation they have received at the polls. At least not yet. During the next few years,...

KENTUCKIANS FOR TAX REFORM SET TO EXPOSE ‘KENTUCKY’S LEAST WANTED’ WILL SINGLE OUT LEGISLATORS AS ENEMIES OF THE TAXPAYER FOR THEIR REFUSAL TO VOTE ON A STATE BUDGET LOUISVILLE, KY – Kentuckians for Tax Reform, the state chapter of Americans for Tax Reform, famous for the “Taxpayer Protection Pledge”, has called a press conference for Tuesday, October 5th, in the Rotunda of the Capitol Building in Frankfort, Kentucky. The press conference is scheduled for 10:30 till 11:00 a.m. The KTR press conference will expose “Kentucky’s Least Wanted” legislators, who have obstructed, delayed and refused to pass a state budget during...

The top general at the North American Aerospace Defense Command was on the telephone and prepared to order an F-16 fighter to shoot down an unidentified plane that turned out to be carrying the governor of Kentucky to President Ronald Reagan's funeral last month, according to two federal security officials briefed separately about the incident. The tense incident June 9 ended after the twin-engine Beechcraft King Air carrying Gov. Ernie Fletcher (R) turned to land at Reagan National Airport. But the close call caused officials to reassess safeguards for the airspace around Washington and prompted calls to expand the no-fly...

FRANKFORT, KY - Today, Governor Ernie Fletcher (R-KY) issued the following statement, addressing John Kerry's visit to Kentucky: "Kentuckians have a clear choice this November. I am confident people across our great state will again put their trust in our President; a man who has provided solid, steady leadership for our country in today's changing world. The hard working people of Kentucky appreciate the historic tax cuts which have provided relief for our families and they value President Bush's commitment to healthcare. "John Kerry, on the other hand, has a long political career in Washington filled with doubletalk and empty...

State Senator Ray Jones' months-long personal attacks against the Governor, the Senate President, the Senate President's wife, and anyone who disagrees with him are a case-study in the failed policies of the left-wing of the Democratic Party. Senator Jones invokes insidious words like 'blackmail' and 'extortion', as well as threats of legal reprisal against all those who oppose him. Desperate to re-elect himself and advance his political career, Mr. Jones throws one tantrum of name-calling after another in the press and on the Senate floor against those who are putting partisan differences aside and forging a bipartisan approach to solving...

<p>FRANKFORT, Ky. - The state capital said goodbye to Louie B. Nunn yesterday, remembering the former governor as a tenacious and courageous politician, as a demanding and inspiring boss, and as a tender and tough father.</p> <p>"Our father, to me, was the John Wayne of Kentucky politics - always doing what he thought was right, never afraid to take a stand," Nunn's son, state Rep. Steve Nunn, said at a Capitol rotunda service for his father, who died Thursday.</p>

Fletcher's brother's wife hired at cabinet MOVE REQUIRES WAIVER TO HIRING FREEZE By John Cheves HERALD-LEADER STAFF WRITER FRANKFORT - Gov. Ernie Fletcher's sister-in-law reports to work Wednesday as a political appointee at the Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet. The move smacks of nepotism and hypocrisy, a representative of state employees said. The appointment of Rachel Fletcher, 60, to be one of three executive secretaries to LaJuana Wilcher, the cabinet's secretary, will require a waiver in the state-wide hiring freeze Fletcher ordered shortly after he took office. The $25,000-a-year job is "considered critical" though, so it should be filled, said...

The battle for Congress in central Kentucky begins in earnest Thursday. Attorney General Ben Chandler is expected to announce for the Democrats at 2 o'clock at his versailles home. He's widely believed to have a virtual lock on the nomination. State Auditor Ed Hatchett is the only other Democrat offering himself as a candidate. Republicans will choose their candidate on Saturday in Frankfort. That contest features state senator Alice Forgy Kerr and state representatives Stan Lee and Lonnie Napier. Senator Mitch McConnell has already thrown his support behind Kerr. The special 6th district election to replace Ernie Fletcher who resigned...

There will be a live broadcast in East Kentucky Broadcasting Network from the Pike County Courthouse this Thursday at 8:30 a.m. featuring Democrat County Judge-Executive Teresa Elliott. She is from Franklin County and has endorsed Fletcher and heads up his Democrats for Fletcher organization. Everyone is invited to attend this event or tune in to one of the EKB stations.

Dear Friends, I am writing with great reservation about this year’s governor’s race. As someone who’s represented you in Northern Kentucky over the years, I feel a great deal of responsibility to be honest with you about my concerns about the election. For the first time in 32 years, we have an opportunity to elect Republicans to statewide office. As I’m sure you are, I’m excited about the possibility of taking several of these offices – particularly our own Trey Grayson and Adam Koenig. As a Republican woman, one of the reasons I’m most proud of our party is that...

The Kentucky Supreme Court ruled Wednesday Republican Ernie Fletcher can remain on the May primary ballot. Candidate Steve Nunn's running mate -- Bob Heleringer -- challenged the legality of Fletcher's candidacy, saying the ticket was invalid when Fletcher picked an ineligible running mate, Hunter Bates. A judge ruled Bates did not meet residency requirements. But other judges ruled the Fletcher candidacy was still legal. The Kentucky Supreme Court decision Wednesday affirms those rulings. In addition to Nunn, Fletcher faces former Jefferson County judge-executive Rebecca Jackson and State Senator Virgil Moore in the May 20th primary.

<p>FRANKFORT, Ky. -- The federal prosecutor who played a leading role in an investigation of corruption in the General Assembly became Ernie Fletcher's new running mate today.</p> <p>Stephen B. Pence, who last week resigned as U.S. attorney for the western half of Kentucky, was registered on Fletcher's Republican slate, according to forms filed with the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance. The two candidates planned a joint news conference Monday morning in Lexington.</p>

<p>FRANKFORT, Ky. -- The federal prosecutor who played a leading role in an investigation of corruption in the General Assembly became Ernie Fletcher's new running mate today.</p> <p>Stephen B. Pence, who last week resigned as U.S. attorney for the western half of Kentucky, was registered on Fletcher's Republican slate, according to forms filed with the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance. The two candidates planned a joint news conference Monday morning in Lexington.</p>

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - A Republican candidate for lieutenant governor said Thursday he would step aside after a judge ruled he had not lived in Kentucky long enough to run for the state's second-highest office. Hunter Bates has been the running mate of Ernie Fletcher, a congressman and a leading GOP candidate for governor. Bates, 35, has spent most of the last six years in a Virginia suburb of Washington, D.C. The state constitution requires candidates for lieutenant governor to live in Kentucky for six years preceding an election. Bates, a former chief of staff to Sen. Mitch McConnell , has...

<p>FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Hunter Bates, running mate of Republican gubernatorial candidate Ernie Fletcher, has not lived in Kentucky long enough to qualify as a candidate, a judge ruled today.</p> <p>The ruling by Oldham County Circuit Judge Paul Rosenblum said Bates' name must be removed from the ballot for the May 20 primary election.</p>

FRANKFORT - U.S. Rep. Ernie Fletcher of Lexington officially launched his campaign for governor yesterday and tapped Hunter Bates, an aide to U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, to be his running mate in next year's Republican primary election. The move signaled a potentially heated Republican primary next spring, and disappointed state Rep. Steve Nunn, a Glasgow Republican who also plans to run for governor. Nunn said McConnell had told him he would remain neutral in the GOP primary, but Fletcher's selection of Bates "gives the appearance that McConnell is right in the middle of all this, and it's contrary to what...

FLETCHER TO ANNOUNCE RUN FOR GOVERNOR & LT. GOVERNOR CANDIDATE Lexington, KY: Congressman Ernie Fletcher will announce his run for Governor and choice for Lieutenant Governor candidate Monday December 2, 2002 in Room 316 of the Kentucky State Capitol. Listed below is a detailed schedule of Congressman Fletcher’s announcements on Monday December 2nd. Monday December 2, 2002 9:30 – 10:00 AM – Announcement State Capitol Room #316 – 3rd Floor Frankfort, Kentucky 11:00 – 11:30 AM - Announcement Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport ComAir Aviation Lobby Area 2042 Tower Drive Hebron, Kentucky 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM - Announcement Taylor County...