Go, Kentucky GOP !
Posted on 01/28/2004 4:32:51 PM PST by Theodore R.
Republicans see chance for big inroad By Bill Estep HERALD-LEADER STAFF WRITER
FRANKFORT - Buoyed by winning the governor's race, Republicans have recruited candidates from across the state to try to make gains in the Kentucky House of Representatives this year.
Democrats, however, vowed they would hold their wide edge in the House and try to pick up seats in the Senate, where Republicans now lead 22 to 16.
Yesterday was the deadline to file for House and Senate seats, bringing the usual last-minute flurry of candidate entries and setting up some races that could be hotly contested.
Republicans hope their control of the governor's office and the Senate, their dominance of state congressional seats, President Bush's popularity, and the re-election campaign of Republican U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning will generate votes to eat into the 63-36 edge Democrats hold in the state House.
"Now is the time when we believe we can really mount an all-out effort," said state Republican Party Chairman Ellen Williams. "All the planets and stars have lined up and Kentucky is voting conservative."
Williams, assisted by former GOP Chair Robert Gable and others, analyzed voting patterns to identify potential opportunities, and worked to recruit Republican candidates for this year's House races. The numbers show the results.
In 2002, Republicans challenged in 23 House districts held by Democrats, according to state election records. This year, Republican candidates have signed up to run for 40 seats that are now in Democrat hands.
Counting incumbents, there will be more than 70 Republicans seeking House seats this fall. That might be a modern record, Gable said.
There is one open House seat in Floyd County. Democrats anticipate holding onto it in a special election next month because of a big registration lead there.
Jonathan Hurst, House caucus director for the Democratic Party, said that in many cases the GOP's effort to draft candidates got only warm bodies, not strong candidates.
"To be honest with you, that to me is not a big concern," Hurst said, predicting that the Democrats will hold their edge in the House.
However, Williams said the GOP hasn't just put up numbers but has good, credible candidates.
The GOP last controlled the House in 1920. In 1968, during the administration of Louie Nunn, the last Republican governor before Gov. Ernie Fletcher, Republicans held 43 House seats.
That number slid to 28 in 1970 after Nunn had to push a tax increase to shore up the state budget.
In more than a dozen races this year, Democrats will challenge for House seats now held by Republicans.
But Hurst said the party's priority will be protecting incumbents and holding onto four seats that Democrats are leaving.
As always, a significant number of incumbent House legislators -- a total of 39 Democrats and Republicans -- drew no opposition in the primary or general elections.
Sen. Ed Worley, D-Richmond, said Fletcher's performance on key budget issues such as education and Medicaid will help frame this year's races.
Senate candidates this year will include former Gov. Julian Carroll, a Democrat who filed to run in the new 7th District in Central Kentucky. If he wins, he will face Fletcher's brother Harold in the fall.
In the 21st Senate District in southern Kentucky, former state Rep. Tom Jensen of London -- who was state GOP party chairman for several years -- will oppose incumbent Republican Sen. Albert Robinson, R-London. In House races in the 1980s, each beat the other once.
"It'll be a dogfight," Jensen said.
Former state Rep. Chris Ratliff, a Pikeville Republican, filed to run against incumbent Sen. Ray S. Jones II, D-Pikeville, in a rematch of their November 2000 race in the 31st District, which was one of the most expensive in state history.
In Louisville's open 37th Senate District seat, Democrat Virginia Woodward, former head of the state Commission on Women, filed to run unopposed in the primary. The Republican candidate is Dana Seum Stephenson, daughter of Sen. Dan Seum, a Republican who represents another Louisville district and helped the GOP take control of the Senate by switching parties.
Several House races will feature rematches of earlier contests.
They include an effort by former Rep. Barbara White Colter, R-Manchester, to win back the seat she lost in 2002 to Tim Couch, a Hyden Republican; a bid by former Rep. Phillip Childers, D-Garner, to unseat Rep. Ancel Smith, D-Leburn, who beat Childers in 2002; and a fall race between incumbent Rep. Howard Cornett, R-Dry Fork, and the Democrat he beat in 2000, G.C. Kincer.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff writer Ryan Alessi and news researcher Linda Minch contributed to this article.
Go, Kentucky GOP !
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