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FORGY AIDS BUFORD FOE IN RACE FOR CONGRESS By Al Cross The Campaign Trail is an update on this year's elections. Larry Forgy, the three-time Republican candidate for governor, resurfaced last week as campaign co-chairman for Lexington lawyer Bryan Coffman, one of three candidates in the GOP primary for Congress in the 6th District. Forgy said in an interview that he is supporting Coffman because he is more conservative than the best-known Republican candidate, state Sen. Tom Buford of Nicholasville. He said another reason is that Buford collected money for Democratic Rep. Ben Chandler in the February special election in...

Buoyed by a national GOP fund-raising drive, Republican congressional candidate Alice Forgy Kerr more than doubled what Democrat Ben Chandler accrued through the first six weeks of the campaign, according to federal campaign finance reports. Kerr's campaign, which began collecting money about a month before Chandler's did, entered February with about half a million dollars still to spend after raising more than $1 million since mid-November, according to Federal Election Commission filings. Chandler had raised about $450,000 as of Jan. 28 and had roughly $100,000 in the bank, said his report, which was released yesterday. Officials from both campaigns claimed...

FRANKFORT - In the heated campaign for Kentucky governor in November, the Democrat tried to run against President Bush's economic policies and lost big-time. Now, in a special election for the House seat vacated by the gubernatorial winner, the Republican candidate is only too happy to make the Feb. 17 contest a referendum on the president, who is hugely popular in the Bluegrass State. GOP state Sen. Alice Forgy Kerr ran a TV ad showing her with the president at the White House and portraying her as "cut from the same cloth" as Bush. Kerr is up against Democrat Ben...

ALEXANDRIA, VA -- You don't have to wait until November 2 to see how the Congressional elections will shape the country's political agenda for at least the next two years: an important Congressional test will occur on February 17 for Kentucky's open House of Representatives seat. The election became necessary after Republican Congressman Ernie Fletcher vacated it upon being elected governor in the November 2003 elections. The February 17 election will determine who will finish Fletcher's two-year term as the 6th District representative for the Lexington-based seat. The Republican candidate is State Sen. Alice Forgy Kerr, who received an endorsement...

Chandler Skips Farm Bureau Debate Actions tell Central Kentucky's Farmers They Don't Count LEXINGTON, Ky - Ben Chandler thumbed his nose at central Kentucky's farm families when he chose to avoid participating in an open debate sponsored by the Kentucky Farm Bureau. In what was to the be the second public debate in three days, Ben Chandler, who most recently was soundly defeated in last year's race for Governor, refused to even show up. The Kentucky Farm Bureau has for years sponsored "Meet the Candidates" forums where political candidates are invited to appear and debate issues of importance to Kentucky's...

<p>LEXINGTON, Ky. — Ben Chandler and Alice Forgy Kerr, who have been ripping at each other in campaign commercials, had a chance to do so in person last night.</p> <p>Civility reigned, however — though not without an edge — through an hourlong, live, televised forum, the only one of their campaign for the 6th District congressional seat.</p>

A new television ad from Republican congressional candidate Alice Forgy Kerr criticizes her opponent by name for the first time. The commercial, which began airing yesterday, goes after Ben Chandler's stances on President Bush's tax cuts, a pledge not to raise taxes and the issue of drivers licenses for illegal aliens -- three carryover issues from Chandler's bid for governor last fall. The candidates are just now turning up the volume in the campaign, which has less than three weeks until the Feb. 17 special election. Chandler and Kerr are vying to fill the 6th Congressional District seat vacated by...

Alice Forgy Kerr (R) .... Ben Chandler (D) Kerr cared about veterans before election (The following is a letter that appeared in the Advocate-Messenger.) Dear Editor: In response to the recent letter to the editor by Mr. Clay Cessna regarding the veterans hospital issue, it appears that he may not be fully aware of the efforts that are being made to protect Kentucky's VA hospitals. It is the Republican-led congressional delegation and the state legislature that have worked diligently to keep the VA Hospitals in Lexington and Louisville. As a member of the Republican Senate majority, State Sen. Alice...

LEXINGTON (Jan 8) -- The following is a statement from Ben Chandler concerning his endorsement of General Wesley Clark for president. Yesterday, while campaigning in New Hampshire, General Clark telephoned Ben Chandler to seek his support. "I am very proud to endorse General Wesley Clark for president," said Ben Chandler. "While we are blessed with a diverse and capable group of Democratic candidates, there is no doubt that General Clark best represents the values and culture of southern states, like Kentucky. His courageous service as a 4-star general, his independent streak, and intellect make him my candidate of choice as...

<p>FRANKFORT, Ky. — President Bush is appearing in a new television commercial for Republican congressional candidate Alice Forgy Kerr, but it remains unclear whether she will get a campaign visit from the president.</p> <p>Kerr, a state senator from Lexington, is the Republican candidate in a Feb. 17 special election to fill the 6th District congressional seat vacated by Gov. Ernie Fletcher. She is running against Democrat Ben Chandler, who lost the governor's race to Fletcher.</p>

Faced with the first competitive special election of the 2004 cycle, House Republicans have helped to raise nearly $500,000 for Kentucky state Sen. Alice Forgy Kerr (R) as she seeks to hold the 6th district seat vacated by new Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher (R). One hundred forty-two Members gave a total of $190,000 from their own campaign accounts or leadership political action committees to Kerr, and helped direct another $300,000 to her from PACs based in Washington, D.C. "I am grateful to all of my colleagues who answered the call to assist Alice," said Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.), who is...

Handshaking his way into a Lexington VFW Post 680 meeting room, Democrat Ben Chandler sat down at a table of veterans and pledged, as political candidates have done forever, to fight for them in Washington. It was his first public event in the fast-approaching special election to fill Gov. Ernie Flet-cher's old 6th Congressional District seat. But make no mistake: This was not just another pressing of the flesh. The candidates in this campaign are counting on television advertising, not face-to-face contact, to win votes. So, as Chandler waved his arms and leaned in to punctuate his promises to the...

Newest Campaign Ad Available for Viewing On-line Lexington - State Senator and candidate for US Congress Alice Forgy Kerr unveiled her website www.KerrForCongress.com today. The site will contain information on Kerr’s record of leadership for Kentucky, issue positions, campaign updates, and allow visitors to sign up to volunteer or contribute to her campaign. "I am excited to get my message of improving healthcare, education and security to the people of Central Kentucky and this is one more way to do that," said Kerr. "I want to provide updated information and news about the campaign and this represents a tremendous avenue...

KERR INVOKES HIM, BUT CHANDLER CITES INDEPENDENCE When Alice Forgy Kerr, the Republican candidate for Central Kentucky's open U.S. House seat, talks about her campaign, one theme dominates: President Bush. Kerr drops Bush's name in speeches, praises his policies and, last week, told almost anyone who would listen about a congratulatory phone call he made after she won the party's nomination. Sometime before the Feb. 17 election, Bush might even make a campaign appearance on her behalf, making that his fourth in Kentucky since October. For Democratic candidate Ben Chandler, so much attention to the president might seem like trouble....

WASHINGTON - Congressional hopeful Alice Forgy Kerr made the rounds in the nation's capital this week in an effort to get key endorsements and cash. "I'm feeling very good about the response I've been getting," Kerr said during a stop at the National Republican Congressional Committee, which recruits GOP candidates. Kerr is the Republican nominee for the Lexington-based seat that Gov. Ernie Fletcher just vacated. A state senator, Kerr is running in the special election slated to take place in February. Her opponent is Ben Chandler, the Democratic attorney general who lost to Fletcher in the governor's race. Kerr's two-day...

(Frankfort, KY, December 13, 2003, 12:25 p.m.) -- Republicans meeting today in Frankfort selected a candidate for a special election for Governor Fletcher's former congressional seat. She's state senator Alice Forgy Kerr of Lexington.She won the nomination over state representatives Stan Lee of Lexington and Lonnie Napier of Lancaster. A fourth candidate was Chuck Ellinger the second, of Lexington. It took two ballots for Kerr to get the majority needed in voting by electors from 15 of the 16 counties in the Sixth District. Democrats plan to pick a nominee on Monday. Attorney General Ben Chandler is thought by many...

McConnell supporting Kerr in 6th District race Senator reverses stand on backing GOP candidate By AL CROSS across@courier-journal.com The Courier-Journal Reversing a stand he took three weeks ago, U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell is supporting state Sen. Alice Forgy Kerr for the Republican nomination for the 6th District congressional seat of Gov.-elect Ernie Fletcher. McConnell's chief of staff, Louisville native Billy Piper, will be Kerr's campaign manager, and two other senior McConnell staff members will join the campaign, Kerr said in a statement that quoted McConnell. In an interview before the Nov.4 election, McConnell, then the undisputed leader of the state...