http://mycn2.com/politics/ky-house-races-2012-democrats-bracing-to-play-defense-in-western-kentucky-seats

Publication Date: June 11, 2012

Author: Ryan Alessi

Ky. House Races 2012: Democrats bracing to play defense in western Kentucky seats

06/11/2012 05:28 PM

Seven state House seats in far western Kentucky are shaping up as key battlegrounds for the November election, and Democrats are playing defense in six of them.

“We’ve got good candidates. We think we’ve got a good message. Obviously, they have qualified opponents. We think we’re going to do well there. We’ve got to work hard. We’ve got our work cut out for us,” said state Rep. Tommy Thompson, the House Democratic whip and the lone Democratic leader from west Kentucky.

Of the most competitive districts, four of them are open seats. Three will be to replace Democrats: Rep. Fred Nesler of Mayfield, who resigned the 2nd District seat to take a job at the agriculture department, Rep. Mike Cherry of Princeton who is retiring from the 4th District and Rep. Melvin Henley, a former Republican-turned-Democrat who is retiring from the 5th District.

The fourth open seat is being vacated by Republican Rep. Brent Housman of Paducah. Housman declined to seek a third term.

Thompson talked about those races and the Democrats’ strategies in this interview:

Republicans also expect to make the 7th District race a target as lawyer Tim Kline challenges Democratic Rep. John Arnold of Sturgis, who has represented the district in Union County and parts of Henderson and Daviess counties since 1995. Democratic Rep. Jim Glenn of Owensboro faces what appears to be a tough race against independent candidate Bill Barron, who runs self-storage companies in western Kentucky.

While Barron is an independent, he has pledged to caucus with the Republicans, said GOP Floor Leader Jeff Hoover of Jamestown.

A seventh race in western Kentucky pits two-term Democratic state Rep. Martha Jane King of Lewisburg against Republican Chris Hightower, a former aide in U.S. Sen. Rand Paul’s 2010 campaign and a favorite of the liberty movement.

Democrats currently hold 58 seats compared to the Republicans’ 41. The 2nd District seat vacated by Nesler remains open.

Former Democratic secretary of state turned Frankfort lobbyist Bob Babbage said Republicans taking control of the House with a pick-up of 10 seats is a “tall order.”

But he said the expectations for November is that Republicans are more likely than Democrats to pick up seats, especially with 32 of the Democratic-controlled seats being challenged. Here’s that clip of the interview with Babbage:

About Ryan Alessi

Ryan Alessi joined cn|2 in May 2010 as senior managing editor and host of Pure Politics. He has covered politics for more than 10 years, including 7 years as a reporter for the Lexington Herald-Leader. Follow Ryan on Twitter @cn2Alessi. Ryan can be reached at 502-792-1135 or ryan.alessi@twcable.com.

Comments

  • Mike Mansfield wrote on June 12, 2012 10:17 AM :

    “A seventh race in western Kentucky pits two-term Democratic state Rep. Martha Jane King of Lewisburg against Republican Chris Hightower, a former aide in U.S. Sen. Rand Paul’s 2010 campaign and a favorite of the liberty movement.”

    Republicans talking about liberty makes me laugh because they’re the ones that are trying to end women’s equal rights, make health care harder to get, eliminate help for the desperately poor, put costly rules on recipients of social support that costs the state even more money rather than saving it money, etc., etc., etc.

    If they get control the poor and middle class will pay even more taxes while the wealthy and corporations will see tax cuts and Kentucky will fall further down the ladder of pathetically ignorant and poor states.

    I am a direct descendant of Patrick Henry’s sister, so we call him, “Uncle Patrick.” I don’t believe Uncle Patrick would have any understanding of how the Republicans could call their policies “liberty.”

    OTOH, I know that some of the stuff that has been happening in Frankfort also required so-called Democrats to jump on board and increase pensions for themselves while in a fiscal crisis.

    Shame on our legislature in general. The Republicans showed us how honest they are during the Beshear Administration. The Democrats shows us how honest they are during previous administrations as well.

    Until we get money as the dominant decider in political races the average Kentuckian is just going to be on a quick trip toward lower wages, less benefits, and less liberty.

    The three articles Cn2 published today point us toward the reality that money, much of it from out of state, is buying our elections so the people depending on the lies on TV & radio for information which can be absolutely, totally false not just nuanced, vote for the candidate that will hurt them the most if elected. Rarely that is the Democrat, though in the Commonwealth I sometimes wonder if we have more than one or two of those.

What do you have to say?





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