SPECIAL ELECTION - TODAY!!! - NEW KENTUCKY STATE SENATE SEAT

CRESTVIEW HILLS - More than 26,000 voters in 25 southern Kenton County precincts are eligible to cast ballots in today's special state Senate election in the newly drawn 17th District.

But with voters unaccustomed to elections in late January and with temperatures in midwinter chill, Kenton County Clerk Bill Aylor is expecting 10 percent or less of eligible voters to go to the polls for the race between Democrat Charles Wells and Republican Damon Thayer.

Both candidates worked Monday to get supporters out in a sprawling legislative district that includes southern Kenton County and all of Grant, Owen and Scott counties.

"This election is going to be decided by very few people," Mr. Thayer told the Kenton County Republican Women's Club during the group's Monday luncheon at the Five Seasons Country Club in Crestview Hills. "You've got to get people out to vote if it's 50 degrees and sunny or 10 below and snowing."

Today's weather forecast calls for a high of 38 degrees, but temperatures could fall.

Mr. Thayer said several members of the women's club were planning on spending Monday afternoon making get-out-the-vote phone calls on his behalf.

Supporters of Mr. Wells were making calls to urge Democrats to the polls. Mr. Wells is a lobbyist and organizer with the American Federation of Teachers.

Senate candidates continue blitz
Urging supporters to go to the polls

By Kevin Eigelbach
Post staff writer

Candidates for the new 17th Senate District seat are spending the last day before the election urging supporters to go to the polls and continuing a media blitz. The four-week campaign has pitted two Georgetown residents: Damon Thayer, the vice chairman of the Kentucky Republican Party, and Charles B. Wells, a lobbyist with the American Federation of Teachers in Kentucky.

The new 17th Senate District
• The new 17th Senate District includes Grant, Owen and Scott counties and the southern half of Kenton County, with the northern border cutting through Taylor Mill, South Covington, Erlanger and Elsmere.
• In Kenton County, its precincts are: Bract, Decoursey, Independence No. 1-10, Morning View, Nicholson No. 1-2, Oak Ridge, Piner, Richardson No. 1-3, Taylor Mill No. 1-3, Whites Tower and Visalia.
• Polls are open 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday.
• For information, call Kenton County voter registration, (859) 491-4780.

They have tried to cram a six-month campaign into four weeks, Wells said, planning their days very carefully and making every visit count.

"The most disappointing thing to me is that there's not enough time to talk to all the people you want to talk to," Wells said.

Both candidates have been airing TV and radio spots over the last month and planned to continue the media blitz today.

Thayer also planned to speak at a Republican women's club in Kenton County today, then make his way south along Interstate 75 and U.S. 25, visiting supporters.

"I think I can run well in every county," Thayer said Sunday from his Georgetown home. "Clearly, the Republican stronghold is Kenton County. I would like to run real strong up there."

"My opponent appears to have written off Northern Kentucky. I thinks that speaks to what kind of a senator he would be," Thayer said. "I don't see any evidence of a campaign of his in Kenton County."

That's not true, Wells said.

"My opponent has not followed me around, and he doesn't know where I've been," Wells said. "Nor have I been faxing him my schedule on a daily basis."

Wells didn't plan any public appearances today. Instead, he planned to meet privately with supporters, in part to thank them for their help.

Neither candidate said they planned to spend any more time trying to convert voters from the enemy camp. They said they planned to devote the remaining days to encouraging their supporters to help them get out the vote.

"I think most people have already made up their minds at this point," Wells said.

An unusual sequence of events, starting with redistricting during the 2002 General Assembly, prompted the special election.

Senate Republicans targeted first-term Democrat Daniel Mongiardo, who had the 17th District seat, by moving the district away from Harlan, Bell and Perry counties.

He foiled their plans by winning the race for the 30th District -- Bell, Harlan, Leslie and Perry counties -- in a November election against state Rep. Johnnie Turner of Harlan.

The newly drawn 17th district includes parts of Northern Kentucky's largest county, Kenton; mostly rural Owen and Grant counties; and Lexington bedroom community Scott County.

Mongiardo had thought about holding both the 17th and 30th district seats, but decided to resign the 17th district seat effective Jan. 7, when the General Assembly started its 2003 session.

DAMON THAYER WINS !!!

Republicans Win Special Election

An empty Senate seat for central and northern Kentucky went to the Republicans in a special election Tuesday.

Damon Thayer, a vice chairman of the state Republican Party, easily defeated Democrat Charles Wells. Both men are from Georgetown. Thayer got nearly 56 percent of the vote. His unofficial total was four-thousand-913. Wells got three-thousand-920.

The newly configured 17th Senate District is made up of Owen, Scott and Grant counties and 25 precincts of Kenton County.

Thayer defeated Wells by two-to-one in Kenton County. He also carried Grant. Wells narrowly carried Scott and Owen counties.

Thayer's victory will give Republicans a 22-to-16 majority in the Senate.

The seat was left vacant by the resignation of Senator Daniel Mongiardo of Hazard. He won a seat in a different district after reapportionment.

Thayer wins race in new Senate district

By Luke E. Saladin
Ky Post staff report

Thanks in large part to overwhelming support from the GOP stronghold of Kenton County, Republican Damon Thayer defeated Democrat Charles Wells in a special election for the 17th District state Senate seat Tuesday.
Thayer won 4,913 to 3,920 in light voting. Only about 13 percent of those eligible to vote went to the polls.

Thayer, a former director of communications for Turfway Park in Florence, took advantage of his name recognition and an increasingly Republican-leaning voter base in Kenton County to outpoll Wells 1,639 to 810. He also won in Grant County, 947 to 712.

Wells, executive director of the American Federation of Teachers' chapter in Kentucky, won Scott County 1,813 to 1,787 and Owen County 585 to 539. Both candidates live in Georgetown.

Kenton County Clerk Bill Aylor attributed the light turnout -- less than 10 percent in his county -- to the cold weather and the fact that special elections don't allow residents much time to familiarize themselves with candidates.

The support from Northern Kentucky won't be forgotten, said Thayer, who intends to attend a caucus meeting for Northern Kentucky legislators Saturday at Northern Kentucky University if he is invited. Education leaders from a variety of organizations plan to make a plea to legislators to maintain current state support for schools and universities.

"I'm a big fan of Northern Kentucky University and other institutions of learning," Thayer said. "I plan on being a strong voice for the district both in the north and south. We are growing and I want to see that a lot of state money come our way."

Thayer can take office as soon as the State Board of Elections certifies the election results. His win pushes the Republicans' majority in the Senate to 22-16.

Thayer said he raised $110,000 to $120,000 for his campaign, which focused on a media blitz of Lexington and Northern Kentucky radio and television stations the past few weeks. Wells, who raised about $60,000, said he just couldn't overcome the fund-raising gap.

"I think voters who heard our message and thought about it did find it appealing," Wells said, "but, when you're outspent 2-to-1, money unfortunately speaks louder than the issues sometimes."

Wells, 43, said his opponent's campaign distorted his stance on a tax increase to address the state's budget crisis. He said he never advocated higher taxes, but he said he would favor shifting money around in the budget to protect education.

"My position was misrepresented on that," he said.

Wells said he had given no thought to whether he might seek elected office in the future.

In his campaign, Thayer, 35, stressed his desire to limit medical malpractice liability, his opposition to tax increases and a litany of traditional conservative values.

The elongated 17th District roughly follows Interstate 75 from South Covington to nearly Lexington and contains the southern end of Kenton County, and all of Scott, Owen and Grant counties.

The 17th District was formerly in eastern Kentucky and represented by Sen. Daniel Mongiardo, a Hazard Democrat. When Senate Republicans redistricted, they moved it to Northern Kentucky, leaving Mongiardo representing an area he did not live in. He subsequently won the Senate seat of the new district in his area, the 30th, then resigned from the 17th seat on Jan. 7, clearing the way for Tuesday's election.

Kenton County Democratic Chairman Nathan Smith said Republicans had their eye on the new seat even before it was created and that it would have been almost impossible for a Democrat to win.

"This district was carved out specifically for Thayer," Smith said. "He announced his candidacy the day the district was created and immediately started raising money. It's really hard to compete with that."

Thayer is now vice president of Breeders' Cup and Event Marketing for the National Thoroughbred Racing Association in Lexington.

Kenton County Republican Party Chairman Greg Shumate said Thayer's wide margin of victory in southern Kenton County helped signal a larger voter transformation occurring across Northern Kentucky.

"Damon was able to capitalize on what is happening in the southern part of Kenton County. People have spoken and they share his values," Shumate said. "We're very excited and expect that he's going to serve the area well."

Publication Date: 01-29-2003

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