Posted on 05/21/2015 3:58:09 PM PDT by cotton1706
A year ago Sen. Mitch McConnell was basking in a convincing U.S. Senate primary victory, explaining he had "crushed the tea party" by beating political newcomer, Louisville entrepreneur, and army veteran Matt Bevin. But in a shocking 4-way gubernatorial primary, Bevin turned the tables in 2015 and is now the GOP nominee in a race against a very liberal and beatable Democrat Jack Conway; the guy Rand Paul rolled over in 2010.
This wasn’t supposed to happen. Bevin hesitated to even enter the governor’s race, only filing on the last day. The big favorite going in was the young agriculture commissioner, James Comer, who had great appeal across the state among both conservative activists and elected officials. But his campaign was torpedoed by an old college girlfriend, with charges of abuse and abortion, which he denied but could not overcome.
That should have put his major rival, Hal Heiner, one of the state’s wealthiest developers, in the driver’s seat. Heiner was nearly elected Louisville mayor in 2010 and was willing to spend millions of his own dollars to become governor. Then stories started circulating that Heiner's campaign was behind the Comer charges, and a grand jury was brought in to look at threats made by a pro-Heiner blogger. It very much hurt as well that Heiner had some of the least liked politicos in Kentucky helping his campaign, and “independent” PACs supporting Heiner were insultingly ugly with their adverts. In a state where everybody knows everybody else, this all backfired and Heiner wound up finishing a distant third.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
He said they were going to crush candidates challenging incumbents such as himself. The quote “we’re going to crush the tea party” was never uttered. It is complete fiction - and those interested in factual discussion will stop repeating it.
Who knows...maybe with liberty-minded Republicans winning big in Kentucky primaries like Thomas Massie and Phil Moffett, perhaps the writer has seen the light.
How is the state senate and state house make up? Is the D the majority party?
For FReepers who aren’t citizens of Kentucky, could you tell us about Thomas Massie and Phil Moffett. Thank you..
Kentucky State House: currently 54 D's 46 R's
Has been Democrat-run since the Civil War, but this is the closest the Republicans have ever been.
Phil Moffett is a liberty-oriented businessman who ran for governor in the 2011 GOP primary, but came up a bit short. He was elected to the state house in 2014 after easily defeating the former Louisville Republican Party chairwoman in the primary and his general election opponent.
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