Posted on 12/03/2002 8:45:10 AM PST by CreekerFreeper
FRANKFORT - U.S. Rep. Ernie Fletcher of Lexington officially launched his campaign for governor yesterday and tapped Hunter Bates, an aide to U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, to be his running mate in next year's Republican primary election.
The move signaled a potentially heated Republican primary next spring, and disappointed state Rep. Steve Nunn, a Glasgow Republican who also plans to run for governor.
Nunn said McConnell had told him he would remain neutral in the GOP primary, but Fletcher's selection of Bates "gives the appearance that McConnell is right in the middle of all this, and it's contrary to what he has said at least twice to me."
McConnell issued a brief statement but did not mention what role, if any, he had in the selection.
"Hunter Bates is the leader of the next generation of Kentucky Republicans. I commend Congressman Fletcher on his choice," the statement said.
Fletcher insisted yesterday at a news conference in the state Capitol that Bates' selection was his decision, not McConnell's. He said he had appointed an informal committee to come up with prospective running mates and that Bates' name was among four or five finalists. Fletcher declined to name members of the selection committee or other finalists on his list.
Fletcher said he chose Bates, 35, because of his knowledge of government and his intellect. He had been touted by McConnell shortly after the Nov. 5 election as a candidate for the 4th Congressional District in Northern Kentucky in 2004.
Fletcher and Bates also traveled to Northern Kentucky and Campbellsville University yesterday to announce their team. They are to be in Owensboro, Paducah, Bowling Green and Somerset today, with a rally ending the day in Williamsburg.
Fletcher said he and Bates will tell Kentuckians that it's time for a change after 31 years of Democratic control of the governor's office. Louie Nunn, father of Steve Nunn, was Kentucky's last Republican governor.
Steve Nunn said he might announce his running mate next week. He said he is considering four prospects. He identified three of them -- state Reps. Bob Heleringer of Louisville, Lonnie Napier of Lancaster and Jon Draud of Crestview Hills.
Jefferson County Judge-Executive Rebecca Jackson, who also has formed an exploratory committee for governor in the GOP primary, had little to say about Fletcher, Bates and McConnell. "I'm running for governor, and only the senator knows what he is going to do," she said.
Other Republicans considering running for governor are state Sen. Virgil Moore of Leitchfield, former Pulaski County school Superintendent Bert Minton, actor and director Sonny Landham, and retired Army four-star general John G. Coburn.
Steve and Traci Nunn was there with us.
Senator Virgil Moore and his wife Sharon sat at my table along with a few others in the campaign.
I am leading the charge right now for Senator Moore's candidacy for governor as his state coordinator; since he is the only liberty oriented and, the most credentialed of all the candidates.
We are good friends with the Nunns so, we would tend to follow them if in fact Steve wins the primary; or, for some reason Virgil drops out of the race.
He scalded the h^)) out of McConnell for his antics without mentioning his name.
Louie Nunn said, "over the last 50 years any and every 'hand picked' candidate has gotten his head handed to him in past elections.
The speech was so good, I wish I had taken a recorder to the dinner.
I later found out that Virgil and Steve both had spoken to Louie and expressed there concerns over the McConnell's meddling.
Fletcher did not attend because he knew he would not be given an exclusive to speak. Bates did attend, however.
Kentucky US Senator, Jim Bunning also spoke and made it abundantly clear that he would not choose sides and would not do "any meddling" in the governor's campaign.
I guess that was strong enough for me.
Those two speeches were better than I could have hoped for in reference to the governor's race.
I was interested in your words about Rebecca Jackson and "pro-choice." She belongs to the same church as I, and I have always known her to be 100% pro-life. However, as you say, she is not on our side with the property rights and gun issues.
I will definitely do what I can to help with Virgil Moore's campaign. He is the utmost candidate, IMHO, for governor, and shows the most liberty-mindedness and class overall. Beyond Senator Moore, I don't know who I would support. I think that, prior to his announcement of Bates as Lt. Gov. candidate, Ernie Fletcher might have gotten consideration from me. But that choice of a running mate is disappointing, and makes a Kentuckian dream for yesteryear, when one could vote individually for the two top positions. Steve Nunn would probably be my second choice, dependent upon who his running mate might be.
I'm glad we had four FReepers there.
Upchuck and strick68 might be with us the next time.
We'll see you at 4:30pm on the 15th for strick's "FReep the peaceniks" at the courthouse.
Wednesday, December 16, 1998
BY AL CROSS
The Courier-Journal
FRANKFORT, Ky. -- A tortured relationship between a father and his son could have much to say about Kentucky Republicans' choice for governor next year.
State Rep. Steve Nunn, the estranged son of former Gov. Louie Nunn, said Tuesday he has given up on running for governor next year because he expects his father will run.
Louie Nunn, who was governor 30 years ago and is now 74, said he is "seriously considering" the race. "I think it would be an interesting and fun thing to do," he said.
Steve Nunn said last month that he was exploring the race and didn't think his father would run. For a while, some considered Steve Nunn, 46, the party's most likely nominee against Democratic Gov. Paul Patton.
But he failed to get his father's support when he asked for it about three weeks ago, and he said he has come to believe the speculation that his father will run.
"He's like an Old West gunfighter who wants to go out in a blaze of glory, with six-guns blazing," Steve Nunn said.
Republicans feared a father vs. son primary that could have become an unusual and ugly spectacle, perhaps reflecting the hurt and resentment that has plagued the Nunns' relationship for a decade, most painfully during their divorces.
Steve Nunn said he never thought about running against his father but had hoped his own candidacy would repair the breach between them.
"Our family needs healing, like a lot of other families do," he said. "I hoped my interest in running for governor would lead to some healing. I thought it was an opportunity."
But that doesn't appear to matter to Louie Nunn, who also lost a race for the U.S. Senate in 1972, when he bore the burden of a sales-tax increase he had pushed through the 1968 legislature.
"I think if you've got something you want to offer, and something you can offer to the people, go out and offer it," he said, adding that he has ideas about schools, health care and transportation. "If they reject it, so what? It wouldn't be the first time." At another point, he recalled, "I always said I'd rather run than serve."
Pikeville lawyer Will T. Scott, the 1995 nominee for attorney general, filed an exploratory committee for the governor's race Monday, but said he hasn't decided to run. Steve Nunn is married to Mr. Scott's ex-wife.
Just before the 1995 primary, Mr. Nunn lambasted Mr. Handy's running mate, former Nunn aide Larry Forgy, in a paid speech on a radio station in the Nunns' hometown of Glasgow. Mr. Patton used the speech against Mr. Forgy that fall, and Mr. Handy said Louie Nunn made it for that purpose. Mr. Nunn denied that.
Steve Nunn said his father is a divisive force in the party and recalled that his mother, Beula Nunn, who was divorced from the former governor shortly before she died in 1995, once said of Louie Nunn: "If he's not running the show, he's running it down."
Louie and Steve Nunn have been estranged for several years, most publicly during the elder Nunn's well-publicized divorce in 1994.
Asked Tuesday whether he would support his father, if his father runs, Steve Nunn said: "He's my dad. I wish him the best in whatever he undertakes. I sure miss my mom."
I thought it was politics.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.