Free Republic

Governor Steve Beshear says Kentucky risks running off the “progressive path” it’s on if voters give the GOP a majority of state House seats. Beshear made the comments in Barren County Thursday. Democrats currently hold a 54-to-46 advantage in the chamber, but Republicans have made a major push to win control of the House for the first time in more than 90 years. To help Democratic incumbents, Beshear has been on the road this week, announcing funding for infrastructure projects in districts where these members are facing competitive challenges by Republican candidates. Beshear said if the GOP does gain control...

Gov. Steve Beshear is planning to do his best Publishers Clearing House impression as he heads to western Kentucky Wednesday to deliver oversized checks and make state transportation and other project announcements along side three incumbent House Democrats who face tough re-election fights on Nov. 4. Beshear will join Rep. Jim Glenn, D-Owensboro, at noon in Owensboro Wednesday to announce a County Agriculture Investment Program for Daviess County, Green River Area Beef Improvement Group, the governor’s office announced late Tuesday. Other local legislators will also be on hand, including Republican Sen. Joe Bowen and Democratic Rep. Tommy Thompson. Glenn is...

[Kentucky] State House Republicans emerged Wednesday with another member added to their ranks and an added swagger as they continue their slow creep to within sniffing distance of tying up or taking control of the state House. Meanwhile, Democrats rushed to downplay the significance of their candidate’s narrow loss in Tuesday night’s special election in the 7th state House District in Union County and Henderson and Daviess counties. Republican Suzanne Miles of Owensboro finished 112 votes ahead of Democratic candidate Kim Humphrey of Morganfield, according to unofficial results. Democrats have asked for a recanvass to double-check the vote totals. Party...

House Democrats are bracing for Republicans to may political hay next year out of ethics issues that have dogged members of the Democratic majority caucus and are preparing a deflection defense. It’s inside baseball, House Speaker Greg Stumbo essentially said in an interview with Pure Politics this week. “I don’t think people look at that. I think people look at what you’ve done overall,” Stumbo said in response to questions about some of the ethical issues that have faced individual House Democrats. Former Rep. John Arnold of Sturgis resigned in September amid allegations that he sexually harassed female legislative staffers....

House Democrats moved Thursday to implement reforms to guard against sexual harassment in the Capitol even as more details — including names of other legislators — raised more questions about relationships between staffers and lawmakers. One lawmaker — Rep. Reginald Meeks, who witnessed one of the incidents of assault — said on the House floor Thursday that legislators must move swiftly to change a “culture” that gives a “wink and a nod” to harassing behavior. The behavior of Rep. John Arnold, D-Sturgis, remains at the center of the scandal. Detailed complaints to the Legislative Ethics Commission by two legislative staff...

Democratic leaders in the Kentucky House won passage Wednesday of a legislative redistricting plan that could strengthen their majority by forcing 11 Republicans to run against each other next year. The Democratic-controlled House voted 53-46 along party lines for the measure, which now moves to the GOP-led Senate, where it faces an uncertain future. House Republicans made emotional pleas not to pass the legislation, saying it was born out of "purely partisan politics." "Nobody did it to be punitive to anybody in this chamber; I can assure you of that," House Speaker Greg Stumbo said in his pitch for the...

Given the political nature of redistricting, House Republicans were frustrated but not surprised when they found out Tuesday that a dozen of them would have to fight against another sitting lawmaker to return in 2015. The House Democratic majority drew six districts that pitted incumbent Republicans against another incumbent. In all but one of them, it places two Republicans against each other potentially in a primary. (However, state law requires a state House candidate to live in the district for one year before the election, which would give some of them time to move to another district before the 2014...

Redrawing the congressional maps will likely produce a few headaches to start the session — but gridlock could produce an interesting political result, House Speaker Greg Stumbo said. Stumbo, a Democrat from Prestonsburg, said if the courts have to intervene over the new congressional maps, Kentucky could end up with all the congressional candidates running statewide and the top six vote-getters go to Congress. That happened in 1932 when lawmakers clashed over redrawing the lines. “What the court would do likely is require what they did once before is that there be an election this cycle and the top vote-getters...

The Democrats’ plans to stage a serious challenge to Kentucky Republican Mitch McConnell , the current Senate minority leader, are still in their formative stages. Some national Democratic strategists are high on state Auditor Crit Luallen — she was easily re-elected in the state’s Nov. 5 election — and state Attorney General Greg Stumbo is another possible contender. Neither, however, has committed to the Senate race. Democrats are, nonetheless, emboldened by Democrat Steve Beshear’s trouncing of ethics controversy-plagued Republican Gov. Ernie Fletcher — a McConnell ally — in the state’s off-year election. And they are sounding increasingly confident that they...

The Executive Branch Ethics Commission is free to launch an investigation of Attorney General Greg Stumbo's handling of the state hiring investigation, a judge ruled yesterday. Franklin Circuit Court Judge Thomas Wingate denied key portions of a motion by Stumbo's office that sought to block the Ethics Commission from considering an anonymous complaint filed against Stumbo and his aides. The Ethics Commission will review the complaint, as it does all others, during a closed session when it meets this morning. Any decision made by the five-person board, which is appointed by Fletcher, must remain secret, according to state law. "We'll...

Kentucky's Attorney General has been pursuing an investigation of Gov. Ernie Fletcher (R) since last year; in May, he finally won an indictment charging political favoritism in Fletcher's administration. Today, he got bad news. From the AP: A judge on Thursday dismissed charges against Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher that had accused him of breaking state law by basing personnel decisions on political considerations. A lawyer for the Republican governor had been negotiating a settlement to the misdemeanor charges for the past two days, Democratic state Attorney General Greg Stumbo said Thursday. The special judge assigned to the case, David E....

Frankfort, Ky. -- A judge disqualified Kentucky's attorney general Friday from any involvement in prosecuting Gov. Ernie Fletcher in a state hiring scandal. Special Judge David Melcher ruled that Attorney General Greg Stumbo's office still has jurisdiction so its prosecutors can remain on the case, but without Stumbo. "The attorney general himself shall play no role in the prosecution of the defendant, and is hereby disqualified from prosecuting or participating in the prosecution of this case," Melcher said in the order. Supreme Court Chief Justice Joseph Lambert appointed Melcher, a family court judge, to hear the case. Fletcher, Kentucky's first...

Secretary of State Trey Grayson (R-Kentucky) purged voter lists of people registered to vote in multiple states and is now being sued by Democrat Attorney General Greg Stumbo - the same person who just indicted GOP Governor Ernie Fletcher for "political discrimination." Stumbo has also indicted the 2nd District GOP Chairman and the State GOP Chairman for "political discrimination." Apparently he wants to prosecute every Republican in the state. I can't post the article because the source is the The Courier-Journal, but here is a link to the article: Voter-list purge prompts lawsuit seeking reversal

In response to the "JUSTICE JANET STUMBO APPEARS AT MOREHEAD STATE UNIVERSITY DEBATE AND FINDS HER OPPONENT DRESSED AS AN EMPTY CHAIR" as appearing posted on the Re-elect Justice Janet Stumbo web site October 15, 2004. On October 7, 2004, The committee to Elect Will T. Scott for Supreme Court Justice was contacted by Suzette Redwine and invited to attend a political forum hosted by the Morehead Women's Club. Ms. Redwine had been contacted by "Ned Pillersdorf" Janet Stumbo's husband and ask "if he could be a part of the debate?" "We told him yes, but we would have to...

<p>RELATED STORIES • Fletcher leads for governor • How the poll was conducted • Top Democrats chide local GOP • Poll results Democrat Greg Stumbo continues to lead in the three-way race for attorney general, while the state auditor's race remains a virtual tie, according to The Courier-Journal's latest Bluegrass Poll.</p>

Northern Kentucky Democrats need more nights like the one they had last week in the back room of a Newport saloon. It was stuffy and crowded Wednesday night in the rear of the West Side Cafe. But nobody was complaining. The rhetoric was hot. The beer was cold. Dinner - fried chicken, baked beans, deviled eggs, potato salad - was laid out across a row of washers and dryers that had been transformed into a makeshift buffet line. Dessert was over on the pool table. Red meat was courtesy of attorney general candidate Greg Stumbo, the mountain Democrat and statehouse...

North Carolina Supreme Court Rules Against Social Worker Investigation In a long awaited decision the North Carolina Supreme Court ruled 7-0 against the Department of Child Protective Services declaring that the department did not have a legitimate basis to even begin an investigation of the Stumbo family. "This is a great victory for parents in North Carolina. The decision means that families will be protected from aggressive social workers who are acting solely on the basis of anonymous tips," said Jim Mason Litigation Attorney for Home School Legal Defense Association. HSLDA represented the Stumbos throughout the case. The Associated Press...

<p>NOW THAT the primaries are over, think you've got the fall election figured out?</p> <p>Buy the conventional wisdom that Republican Ernie Fletcher is the favorite, at least marginally, for governor over Attorney General Ben Chandler? That the GOP has a good chance of winning most of the statewide constitutional offices?</p>

<p>Around dinnertime Sunday, Mary Casey of Louisville was talking on the phone with an old friend who had just spent four months in Paris. As the two eagerly caught up on news old and new, Casey received another call.</p> <p>Casey didn't want to give up talking about the Louvre, but she knew her brother was traveling to her house — and it might be him. She also knew dinner was waiting. So she told her old friend au revoir and took the next call. It was a recorded message from state Rep. Greg Stumbo asking for her vote in Tuesday's election in his bid for attorney general.</p>