Free Republic

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...

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...

While Democrats may be hoping to improve their numbers in Congress in the next election, political analyst Nathan Gonzales says that the Kentucky governor's race may be a bellwether election for 2016. Since losing the Senate in 2014, as well as even more seats in the House, the Democrats have been looking to 2016 with hope in light of the fact that they typically have better voter turnout during presidential election cycles, Gonzales explained in a blogpost for Roll Call. However, he contends that there is at least one race that is expected this fall that "could dampen some of...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WHAS11) -- As Matt Bevin and Jack Conway prepare for the unofficial kickoff of the Kentucky gubernatorial campaign at Fancy Farm, the race appears to be a barnburner. Conway, Kentucky's Democratic Attorney General, holds a slim lead over Bevin, the Republican nominee and businessman, 45 percent to 42 percent, in the WHAS11/Courier-Journal Bluegrass Poll released Thursday. The three percentage point margin is within pollster Survey USA's 3.8 percent margin of error. The poll surveyed likely voters between July 22 and July 28. The Bluegrass Poll also queried voters on a potential three-candidate governor's race. Fark.com founder Drew Curtis...

Describing Jack Conway as their "Perfect Candidate", the pro-abortion group JAC will be hosting an event on Monday, September 27 in Prospect. Not likely to be there are any of the 1.3 million babies aborted this year, or or any of the 50,000,000 babies who lost their lives since 1973, when Jack had survived 4 years. But Jack cozying up to pro-abortionists is not surprising really...

In their third joint appearance of the general election gubernatorial candidates Matt Bevin and Jack Conway traded barbs as policy took center stage. The forum between Bevin and Conway keynoted the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce’s annual business summit in Louisville on Tuesday. The forum was moderated by former Pure Politics managing editor Ryan Alessi. The next governor will assume office in December and will quickly have to produce a budget to guide the state over the next two years. A seemingly straightforward question to Bevin about what his top budgeted priority would be drew a quick rebuke. “If I told...

As Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jack Conway seeks separation between himself and an unpopular president in one of two new television ads released on Tuesday, the Republican Governors Association is attempting the opposite in a competing spot unveiled the same day. Conway’s campaign released two 30-second ads that are set to air statewide in a six-figure buy. In one, titled “Fiscal,” Conway pledges to “hold the line on taxes” and touts his office’s record of winning high-dollar judgements during his two terms while the other, called “Coal,” highlights his decision to sue the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for proposed regulations on...

While advocating diversity in politics Saturday before the Kentucky Black Caucus meeting in Radcliff, GOP gubernatorial candidate Matt Bevin said he was against extending equal protection to the LGBT workforce. Asked afterward if he was OK with an individual being fired because of sexual orientation, Bevin said, “I believe in equal opportunity under the law,” and in the forum said he believed in protecting religious freedoms. “I think we have laws that protect everybody’s rights and that they should continue to exist just as they do,” he said in an interview. During the forum, Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor Sannie...

Is this bolder than what Haley did or not as bold? Davis may not hold the same cultural currency as a symbol of southern pride that the flag does, but Haley had less to lose in making her move than Bevin does. She’s the term-limited governor of South Carolina; he’s the GOP nominee for governor in Kentucky. If there’s a broader southern backlash coming to all of the criticism of Confederate iconography this past week, he’ll pay for it more than she will. NEW: @MattBevin, in a statement to me, calls for removing the Jefferson Davis statue in the...

...Conway, who filed jointly with his wife Elizabeth, paid $837,700 in capital gains taxes in the sale — $644,385 to the Feds and $193,315 to the state — according to campaign spokesman Daniel Kemp. That’s 76.8 percent of his family’s $1.3 million in state and federal income taxes paid, according to the tax summary. He also reported $18,875 in charitable contributions last year. Conway, who earns $118,217 annually as attorney general, and his wife earned $233,421 in gross income in 2013 and $213,055 in 2012, and the couple paid $47,916 and $40,615 in federal and state income taxes in those...

The first “debate” between Democratic Attorney General Jack Conway and Republican gubernatorial nominee Matt Bevin Friday wasn’t an exchange of ideas, but rather a pair of broad speeches limited to 15 minutes with only Bevin, by virtue of speaking last, given an opportunity at rebuttal. The two shared the stage for the first time as their parties’ nominees at the Kentucky County Judge-Executive Association/Kentucky Magistrates and Commissioners Association Joint Summer Conference at the Galt House in Louisville. Their pre-lunch remarks drew about 300. Both Conway and Bevin did their best to present their visions for the state in the allotted...

U.S. Rep. Andy Barr, R-Lexington, had to bridge the partisan divide to win two terms in the central Kentucky 6th Congressional District, and he says that knowledge of the political terrain will be put to use for GOP governor nominee Matt Bevin. The 6th Congressional District has 1.6 times more registered Democrats than Republicans, but Barr was able to defeat incumbent U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler in 2012 and hold the seat facing a Democratic challenge in 2014. The incumbent congressman used some well-placed ads and had the benefit of President Barack Obama on the ballot, but he also credits voter...

LEXINGTON — Two-thirds may not have been his crowd at the beginning of the night, but by the time state Republicans left Lexington’s Marriott Griffin Gate Saturday they at least had a dose of humor, and an attempt at reunification from freshly minted nominee Matt Bevin. U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell was back in Washington D.C., but that didn’t stop his one time rival from attempting to make light of potential tension between Bevin and McConnell at the statewide Republican Lincoln Day Dinner on Saturday. A video was played to illustrate the true nature of the Bevin/McConnell relationship. Bevin, the former...

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...