Free Republic

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...

Kerr lost battle on her own turf By Ryan Alessi HERALD-LEADER FRANKFORT BUREAU In her 12-point loss in last week's special congressional election, Republican Alice Forgy Kerr was failed by some of the voters who knew her best. Kerr, a state senator from Lexington, lost to Democrat Ben Chandler by an unexpectedly wide 55 percent to 43 percent margin in Tuesday's election to fill the 6th Congressional district seat. Political analysts have offered a host of theories why Chandler, a former attorney general, won so convincingly, including the high, 35 percent, voter turnout, which by tradition favors Democrats, and his...

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - A Republican state senator withdrew her candidacy for a Kentucky congressional seat Thursday after losing a special election for that same office to Democrat Ben Chandler. Alice Forgy Kerr threw her support to state Sen. Tom Buford, one of three remaining GOP candidates in the May primary. Kerr, of Lexington, lost to Chandler by 12 percentage points in Tuesday's election in the central Kentucky district that includes Lexington and the state capital of Frankfort. The U.S. House seat previously was held by Republican Ernie Fletcher, who resigned in December upon being sworn in as governor. Chandler...

WKYT projects Democrat Ben Chandler as the winner of the 6th district congressional district race. Chandler defeats Republican Alice Forgy-Kerr for the seat. It was a contentious campaign with both sides lobbing negative campaign ads at each other. >Live Election Results Tally Chandler wins the seat after Republican Ernie Fletcher left the seat empty after winning the Kentucky governor's race last year. Kentucky's former Attorney General, Chandler lost to Fletcher in that governor's race. Forgy-Kerr was a bit of an unknown district-wide going into the race. However, a highly funded campaign and some help from the national Republican party quickly...

<p>FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) -- This Bluegrass Region, home to horse and tobacco farms, has a history of sending Republicans to Congress. Its previous congressman, Ernie Fletcher -- now governor of Kentucky -- won every county in the district in 2000 and 2002, and President Bush carried the state by 15 points over Al Gore in 2000.</p>

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Democrat Ben Chandler leads Republican Alice Forgy Kerr in their race to represent the 6th Congressional District, according to a newspaper poll. In the Bluegrass Poll, published Thursday by The Courier-Journal, 49.4 percent said they supported Chandler compared with 39.6 percent for Kerr and 11 percent undecided. The poll, which surveyed 466 self-described likely voters, has an error margin of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points. Thus, Chandler holds a slight lead when accounting for the error margin. The vacancy was created in December when Republican Ernie Fletcher took office as Kentucky governor. The race has drawn...

U.S. House, KY 6th District 2/10/2004 Chandler (D) 51% Kerr (R) 45% Other/Undecided 4% Data Collected 2/7/04 - 2/9/04 Geography KY 6th Cong. District Sample Population 612 Certain Voters Margin of Error 4.1%

Unless voters in Kentucky’s 6th district suddenly have a change of heart, the Republicans are headed for a rocky Feb. 17 special election in the Lexington-area House district. Former two-term state Attorney General Ben Chandler (D), not state Rep. Alice Forgy Kerr (R), has the advantage in the final days before the election.

Candidates driving home a few differences EACH HOPES RETOOLED IMAGE WILL SWAY VOTERS By Ryan Alessi HERALD-LEADER FRANKFORT BUREAU When voters in Kentucky's 6th Congressional District go to the polls in less than 10 days, among other things, they'll be judging competing makeovers. Democrat Ben Chandler, stung by a 10-point loss in last fall's governor's race, has been reinventing his image ever since. Republican Alice Forgy Kerr, a low-profile state lawmaker from Lexington, has been equally busy trying to craft an image for strangers scattered across 16 Central Kentucky counties. And both are having their problems--- complicated in no small...

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...

U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert pledged for the first time yesterday that he would push a tobacco buyout plan to the House floor -- but only if Republican Alice Forgy Kerr is elected to Congress. Tobacco growers attending the $50-a-head Kerr-sponsored event in Lexington applauded Hastert's remarks. A Kentucky Farm Bureau representative was more reserved, saying the group was encouraged but would fight for a buyout regardless of who wins the Feb. 17 special election for Gov. Ernie Fletcher's vacant 6th District seat. Democrat Ben Chandler, who faces Kerr, said through a spokesman that he was disappointed that Hastert was...

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...

Kerr says Bush, Cheney not coming to state after all 01/26/2004 Associated Press President Bush and Vice President Cheney will not be coming to Kentucky to help Alice Forgy Kerr's congressional campaign, Kerr said Monday. Kerr, who is running in a special election Feb. 17, had expected a visit by one or both of the national leaders. But her campaign would have to pay security costs, among other things, and could not afford it, she said. With no other Republican candidates to share the spotlight and also the expense, "it would be cost prohibitive," Kerr said in an interview while...

<p>FRANKFORT, Ky. — When he was a Major League pitcher, Jim Bunning had more pluck than luck. As a U.S. Senate candidate and senator, the reverse appears to have been true, as we are likely to see again Tuesday, the filing deadline for major party candidates in this year's elections.</p>

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...