Free Republic

MIDWAY — Set against the back drop of Kentucky’s lone women-only college, candidates for lieutenant governor Jenean Hampton a Republican and Rep. Sannie Overly a Democrat went head to head at Midway College tonight. ... Overly said she and running mate Attorney General Jack Conway, “want to encourage programs that offer partnerships, a state wide apprentice program, and other opportunities so students can earn while they learn.” Hampton spoke of her time of working her way through college, and using loans grants and scholarships. Hampton said that she and Bevin would work to strengthen partnerships and emphasized alternative education. “We...

Over at the Lexington Herald-Leader, political writer Sam Youngman offers a blistering critique of Jack Conway’s performance at Tuesday night’s debate. Not only did Youngman compare Conway to “A 1980s commercial for antiperspirant,” but said: “Between the Al Gore body language and the 1960 Richard Nixon sweating, Conway looked ill at ease on the stage, and he desperately needs strong debate performances from here on out to break through a political environment that is potentially apocalyptic for Democrats.” Conway’s answer to a question about a sexual harassment case bothered Youngman (among others) “The larger problem for Conway came from some...

Republican candidate for governor Matt Bevin has launched his first campaign ad of the general election which features a football themed attack against Democratic candidate Jack Conway. The ad plays heavily on ESPN styling with head-to-head matchup graphics pitting Bevin and Conway. “Conway’s playbook supports Obama’s liberal agenda – that means Obamacare and Obama’s job-killing Cap and Trade Plan,” an announcer says. “Conway will take us the wrong way.” The ad follows the same track as recent Republican Governors Association ads which target Conway for his support of Obama. “Leading Kentucky’s team of greater prosperity is outsider businessman Matt Bevin,”...

Conway Cites Owning A Female Dog When Asked How He's Made Kentucky Safer For Women - video

LOUISVILLE — The three candidates for governor met Tuesday night at Belleramine University in an hour-long debate where social issues took a sharper focus. Democratic candidate Jack Conway, Republican candidate Matt Bevin and independent candidate Drew Curtis shared the spotlight on Tuesday night in Louisville at the debate sponsored by The Courier Journal, WHAS-TV, WKYT-TV and the Lexington Herald-Leader. Bevin and a visibly sweating Conway exchanged barbs over state pension plans and same-sex marriage from the stage as a crowd of 300 people watched on from the Cralle Center. All the while Curtis slipped in and out of the wider...

With the campaigns focusing on their fall strategy and increasing their television presence, politicians are being forced to react to the controversy surrounding Democratic Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis. Bob Babbage, the former Democratic secretary of state and managing partner of Lexington-based lobbying firm Babbage Cofounder, described the Davis situation as “significant” in the political realm not just in 2015, but likely for politicians in years to come. No public poll has been taken since Davis’s incarceration and release for contempt of court, but Babbage said the conventional wisdom is that she helps GOP candidate Matt Bevin in the short-term....

The Republican Governors Association has returned to the airwaves in Kentucky in defense of Matt Bevin’s tax record. The ad, released Tuesday, seeks to characterize Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jack Conway as misrepresenting the facts behind Bevin’s tax delinquencies — a point raised by U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, and his allies in the 2014 GOP primary for Senate. “Jack Conway is playing fast and loose again. Matt Bevin did pay the taxes,” a narrator in the ad says. The ad is split into half defensive mechanism, and half positive spot featuring Kentuckians speaking on behalf of Bevin’s family bell business...

Today, Matt Bevin responded to the arrest of Kentucky County Clerk Kim Davis. “It is utterly unnecessary that Rowan County clerk, Kim Davis, is sitting in a jail cell, when there is a simple solution that would respect the rights of every Kentuckian. I first put this solution forward many weeks ago. Why the cowardly silence from our Attorney General, Jack Conway? Jack Conway violated his oath of office as Attorney General when he refused to defend our state in court. Where was our Governor then demanding his resignation? The double standard applied in this case is reprehensible. Jack Conway...

The political 501(c )(4) group Americans for Prosperity is jumping into the fall election cycle with an ad attempting to tie Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jack Conway to President Barack Obama and the Affordable Care Act. The ad, first reported by the Lexington Herald-Leader, launched Monday in what AFP told the newspaper is a “hefty” six-figure ad buy. AFP is supported by the billionaire ultra-conservative Koch brothers. “Jack Conway chose Washington insiders over Kentucky families when he decided not to take Obamacare to court — now we are yolked with double-digit premium increases and thousands of lost jobs,” Julia Crigler, state...

FRANKFORT — The Kentucky County Clerks Association will propose removing clerks’ names from the document in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s legalization of same-sex marriage. Overturning the state’s ban on same-sex marriage has prompted Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis and two others to deny licenses to all couples, drawing a federal lawsuit against Davis as well as calls to change the licensing process. Leslie County Clerk James Lewis, chairman of the association’s elections committee, told reporters Tuesday that his group is drafting “a simple solution” to the matter. “You would have the county and the county seat listed...

Democratic super PAC Kentucky Family Values is sharpening their messaging in their latest TV with a focus on Republican gubernatorial nominee Matt Bevin’s refusal to release his tax returns. The 30-second ad released on Tuesday by the pro-Jack Conway PAC focuses on the “tradition” of gubernatorial candidates releasing their tax-returns for public inspection as a candidate. The ad also turns to the previous tax delinquency claims made by the campaign of U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell in the 2014 GOP primary against Bevin, and numerous Democratic attacks in the gubernatorial campaign this year. “It’s a tradition in Kentucky,” A male narrator...

SOMERSET — U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., stumped for Republican gubernatorial candidate Matt Bevin on Friday, but Bevin refused to endorse Paul’s presidential bid when asked by reporters after the event. Paul offered a Peyton Manning-style, two-minute-drill pitch to supporters asking them to back Bevin in the election against Democratic nominee Jack Conway and independent candidate Drew Curtis. “You know what I think people are really hungry for in Kentucky? A Republican governor,” Paul told the crowd. “I think that it’s time that we get not only Republican, but a conservative Republican who has a vision for Kentucky, who knows...

<p>Incredible - after the scathing auditors report, they are able to do this - read the excuses given.</p>

Democratic Attorney General Jack Conway launched the first negative ad from a gubernatorial nominee on Tuesday, hitting Republican Matt Bevin on seemingly every tax issue that has emerged this year and in last year’s U.S. Senate primary. The 30-second spot, titled “30 Times,” begins with Bevin’s press conference upon launching his bid to unseat then-Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, telling reporters that he had “no tax delinquency problem, nor have I ever.” The ad then transitions to reports of more than $100,000 owed by Bevin Brothers Manufacturing in East Hampton, Conn., earning the company a spot atop a listing of...

Outside of the presidential contest, the best political race worth watching THIS YEAR is the gubernatorial showdown in Kentucky between Democrat Jack Conway and Republican Matt Bevin. The reason: It could very well be the last Obama War. Indeed, the Republican Governors Association this month has released two TV ads -- one linking Conway with Obama's energy policies and the other hitting Conway on the health-care law. And it seems like Conway is following the Alison Grimes playbook. He is up with an ad bragging that he was the only Democratic attorney general to sue the Obama admin over coal...

We hit on several topics and allowed the GOP nominee to go beyond soundbites and explain in his own words where he stands on several topics being discussed in the Kentucky Governor's race. The election is set for November 3, 2015. Bevin is running against Democratic candidate Jack Conway. ... Please take the time to hear GOP Gubernatorial Candidate discuss these topics in his own words. (audio of interview at link)

In Kentucky, gubernatorial candidate Matt Bevin has announced that he intends to defund Planned Parenthood if he wins the election. Bevin is the GOP’s nominee for governor and will be facing pro-abortion Jack Conway in the general election. Currently, Conway is the attorney general for Kentucky and the Democratic nominee. In a press release, Bevin said, “As Governor, I will direct my Secretary of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services not to distribute federal taxpayer dollars from that department to Planned Parenthood clinics. Federal taxpayer dollars appropriated to Planned Parenthood flow through the Governor’s administration. As Governor, I will...

FANCY FARM — The annual political picnic here has long been a partisan battle of wits and one-liners, where the politicians trade barbs and laughs and the crowd eggs them on. ... On Saturday, while Democrats, including gubernatorial nominee and attorney general Jack Conway, used their time on stage to remind voters of Bevin's rocky past as a politician, Bevin took the stage to decry the nature of the event and call for unity. In a sharp departure from the theme of the picnic, Bevin said he was glad to be at the event, which primarily serves as a fundraiser...

FANCY FARM — Democratic Attorney General Jack Conway heaped criticism on his GOP opponent at the 135th annual Fancy Farm picnic Saturday, repeating numerous attacks against Matt Bevin that have sprouted in his two runs for office. In response, Bevin completely reversed the Fancy Farm norm, eschewed the partisan tenor of Kentucky’s signature political event before leading the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance and painting in broad strokes in his remarks. “The one thing that discourages me, however, about this process is that we literally are celebrating the very worst elements of the political process,” Bevin said. “We are...

FANCY FARM — Democratic attorney general candidate Andy Beshear and Republican candidate Whitney Westerfield traded barbs face-to-face on Saturday with both referencing cosmetic treatments to feet and toes. The reference dates back to a 2007 personnel report first detailed by Pure Politics in mid-July. An August 2007 entry in Westerfield’s personnel file cites complaints with courtesy, professionalism and attitude. The file says that, “Personal interests often take priority over work duties,” including “Teeth Cleaning vs. Jury Trial,” “Pedicure vs. Arraignments,” and “Cell Phone in Court.” And it was the pedicures which both Beshear and Westerfield mentioned in their speeches on...