Free Republic

FRANKFORT — Standing in the namesake building of his foe in last year’s U.S. Senate primary, Republican gubernatorial nominee Matt Bevin said Friday any perceived grudges in the GOP are overstated. Bevin headlined a press conference at Republican Party of Kentucky headquarters featuring other GOP candidates for constitutional office, hoping to demonstrate party unity ahead of a state Lincoln Day dinner in Lexington on Saturday. Agriculture Commissioner James Comer, who conceded the race Friday after a recanvass showed no change in Bevin’s 83-vote margin of victory, promised in a statement to “do everything I can to see that he wins...

It appears that 17.3 percent of Kentucky's registered Republicans have by 83 votes nominated Matt Bevin to be the party's candidate for governor. We will not know this for certain, however, until the recanvass requested by apparent runner-up James Comer is completed, and perhaps after that if there is an actual recount. Democrats nominated Jack Conway. His opponent, a complete unknown who did not mount a serious campaign, nonetheless got more than one out of every five votes cast. Conway supposedly wanted Bevin to win. He got his wish and will soon regret it if Bevin's well-run primary campaign and...

When a statewide race unofficially comes down to 83 votes, pinpointing the exact cause of the second-place finisher’s electoral shortcomings is an exercise in futility. That’s especially true in the case of Agriculture Commissioner James Comer. Republican analysts pointed to Comer’s light political activity in Jefferson County, the “Fort Sumter” speech he gave in the backyard of U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers in late 2013 and allegations, which he has categorically denied, of abusing a college girlfriend and escorting her to an abortion clinic as factors in his unofficial narrow defeat at the hands of Louisville investment manager Matt Bevin. Virtually...

[Ky.]Republican gubernatorial candidate Hal Heiner took the stage at about 8:45 election night to thank his staff, volunteers and family for their support. He said although the race didn’t end the way that he and his running mate KC Crosbie wanted it to end, they are still proud of their journey and would not trade the experience for anything. He said he called Matt Bevin to congratulate him on his victory and told him he needs Bevin to beat Jack Conway in the general election in November. You can hear the full concession speech here:

In some of their final pitches to voters, candidates seeking the Republican gubernatorial nomination are taking softer approaches on the television airwaves as Tuesday’s primary nears. Agriculture Commissioner James Comer has tapped his wife, T.J. Comer, to stand in on his behalf in the latest ad after a tumultuous week of negative stories alleging he physically and mentally abused a college girlfriend. The campaigning got so bad, that the Washington Post declared Kentucky’s primary the “nastiest race” of 2015. In the ad T.J. says she knows, “James Comer as a loving father and proud father of three children.” “You probably...

[Kentucky] - Just seven days from the May 19 primary, state Republicans are split in their support among gubernatorial contenders. Merely 3 percentage points separates the top candidate from third place in the race, according to the latest Bluegrass Poll conducted by SurveyUSA for the Lexington Herald-Leader, Louisville Courier Journal, WKYT-TV and WHAS-TV. Louisville investment manager Matt Bevin leads the field with 27 percent, Agriculture Commissioner James Comer has 26 percent and former Louisville Metro Councilman Hal Heiner has 25 percent in the poll. Former state Supreme Court Justice Will T. Scott is polling at 8 percent. The poll, conducted...

LEXINGTON — A bitter Band-Aid was ripped off at the onset, but Kentucky’s gubernatorial candidates touched on a bevy of subjects during their final debate on KET’s “Kentucky Tonight” on Monday. Bill Goodman, who moderated the debate, started the statewide broadcast by asking Agriculture Commissioner James Comer about allegations of abuse levied by a college girlfriend last week and former Louisville Metro Councilman Hal Heiner whether his campaign had any involvement in Marilyn Thomas’ decision to air the accusations that date back to 1991. Comer said he has been truthful in his denials of Thomas’ allegations of physical and mental...

The poll of 501 Republican primary voters finds James Comer leading the pack with 28 percent, Hal Heiner with 27 percent, and Matt Bevin at 25 percent. The survey has a margin or error of +/- of 4.4 percent, placing the top three candidates neck and neck.

The ex-girlfriend of Kentucky Republican gubernatorial candidate James Comer wants him to take a lie detector test over her claims that he was physically abusive and took her to an abortion clinic. On Monday, the Louisville Courier-Journal published allegations from Marilyn Thomas, Comer's ex-girlfriend from their time together at Western Kentucky University more than 20 year ago, based in part on a four-page letter she sent the paper in which she described how their relationship had been "toxic, abusive and caused me a lot of suffering." According to the paper, Thomas claimed Comer was physically and emotionally abused. The paper...

An already tense GOP gubernatorial primary grew testier Wednesday as the four candidates vying for their party’s nomination debated issues – both personal and statewide – on Kentucky Sports Radio. Allegations of abuse levied by a college girlfriend against Agriculture Commissioner James Comer overshadowed the latter half of the hourlong forum. In a one-on-one segment with KSR host Matt Jones, Comer again denied accusations of mental and physical abuse and that he drove his ex to an abortion clinic in 1991 while a student at Western Kentucky University. He blamed fellow Republican gubernatorial hopeful Hal Heiner’s campaign for pushing the...

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - Republican candidate for governor James Comer has flatly denied he abused his college girlfriend and said his campaign was moving forward. Comer, one of four candidates seeking the Republican nomination for governor, scheduled a news conference Tuesday at the Hilton Lexington/Downtown to address the allegations. The news conference comes one day after Marilyn Thomas outlined several accusations in a letter to the Louisville Courier-Journal and threatened to bring down his campaign two weeks before Election Day. In a letter to the Courier-Journal, Thomas said Comer hit her and drove her to a medical clinic to receive...

Republican gubernatorial candidate Hal Heiner has issued an apology after reports surfaced that the husband of his running mate had communicated with a blogger who promotes material against James Comer, one of Heiner’s GOP opponents in the May 19 primary. The Lexington Herald-Leader’s Sam Youngman reported the story on Wednesday. The newspaper obtained emails that showed Scott Crosbie, husband of Heiner’s lieutenant governor pick KC Crosbie, speaking in the fall with Lexington attorney Michael Adams, who operates a website dedicated solely to Comer. KC Crosbie was copied on some emails, according to the Herald-Leader. Comer, Kentucky’s agriculture commissioner, denied the...

[Ky.]Republican gubernatorial primary candidate James Comer announced the endorsement of a prominent tea party figure in U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie of Vanceburg who represents the geographically diverse 4th Congressional district Wednesday. Massie has not endorsed in other GOP primary contests, including U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell’s 2014 bid for re-election against primary contender Matt Bevin. “James Comer is my choice for Kentucky’s next Governor because he exhibits the leadership qualities that our Commonwealth needs,” Massie said in a statement. “I’ve seen him in the halls of Congress advocating effectively on behalf of Kentucky’s farmers and entrepreneurs. I’ve watched him restore trust...

Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear’s decision to expand Medicaid eligibility has put the state on an unsustainable path when the federal government ratchets down its share of the bill beginning in 2017, Republican gubernatorial candidates James Comer and Hal Heiner say. Beshear’s executive order, made possible through the Affordable Care Act, has added more than 425,000 recipients to Kentucky’s Medicaid rolls, and Washington, D.C., has paid 100 percent of the costs for the newly eligible. Beshear based his decision in part on the projected $15.6 billion economic impact once the program is fully implemented in fiscal year 2021. .... “When Gov....

LEBURN[Ky.] — Agriculture Commissioner James Comer on Monday announced the first five pilot programs to grow hemp in Kentucky as part of the foundation of his economic development plan for Eastern Kentucky. “Hemp will go into the ground for the first time in Kentucky since World War II,” Comer told several hundred people at the Knott County Sportsplex along Highway 80. That includes a project to research cannabinoids for medicinal purposes at an Eastern Kentucky site overseen by the University of Kentucky. Comer made the announcement with both Republican U.S. senators, Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul, as well as Democratic...

Republican gubernatorial candidate Matt Bevin’s speech sure sounded like an acceptance speech, in spite of the slim margin of victory and the recanvass that will follow. He thanked his supporters, staff, wife and nine children as well as his running mate. He was proud to point out that he and Jenean Hampton grew up poor and said their rise to this election is what Kentucky is all about. Hear his full speech here:

Republican gubernatorial candidate Jamie Comer is holding out hope for a recanvass of votes to go his way. But he said Tuesday night that he called opponent Matt Bevin and promised to walk door to door with him to help him beat Jack Conway in the fall, if it came down to that. Hear his speech below: