Several incumbent lawmakers face challenges
BRUCE SCHREINER Associated Press
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) – Primary election voters in Kentucky were setting the lineup of candidates on Tuesday who will wage a district-by-district fight in the fall to determine whether Democrats retain control of the Kentucky House amid a strong push by Republicans to consolidate their power in the General Assembly.
Democrats have seen their historic hold on the House dwindle to a 54-46 advantage, giving Republicans perhaps their best chance in decades to claim majority status and set the agenda for the legislative chamber that gets first crack at crafting the state budget every two years.
“The seats are out there to get it done,” said state GOP Chairman Steve Robertson.
House Speaker Greg Stumbo predicted Democrats would still be in charge of the House when lawmakers reconvene for their regular session in January.
“We have a lot in our favor,” the Prestonsburg Democrat said. “We’ll be well funded, we’ll have (U.S. Senate candidate) Alison Lundergan Grimes at the top of the ticket and we will be working closely with Governor Beshear to push forward an agenda that will create jobs and improve our schools.”
The GOP has a firm hold on the state Senate, meaning the focus will be on the House during the fall campaigns for the statehouse.
“Both parties are going to be focused like a laser beam,” Robertson said. “It’s going to be a top priority for both of us.”
But first voters have to choose nominees in a number of contested primaries for legislative seats.
A handful of House incumbents from both parties faced challengers.
One Democrat facing a tough fight was veteran state Rep. Keith Hall, who heads the House Tourism Development and Energy Committee. The Phelps lawmaker was being challenged by Chris Harris, an attorney and Pike County Fiscal Court member, in the 93rd District.
Hall touted his ability to deliver state funding for his eastern corner of Kentucky. Harris raised ethics as a campaign issue.
Hall was fined $2,000 by the Legislative Ethics Commission in 2011 after one of his companies received more than $171,000 in contracts for sewer projects. Hall was reprimanded for voting for a state budget that included money to pay for the sewer work.
No Republican filed for the 93rd District seat.
Meanwhile, former gubernatorial candidate Phil Moffett was competing with Shellie May for the Republican nomination for an open state House seat in Jefferson County. Moffett is a tea party activist who lost to then-Senate President David Williams in the 2011 GOP primary for governor. Democrat Ashley Miller was unopposed in the district’s Democratic primary. The Republican incumbent, Rep. Julie Raque Adams, is running for the state Senate.
On the Senate side, a hard-fought race pitted Republican incumbent Sen. Sara Beth Gregory against challenger Max Wise in a southern Kentucky district. Both are staunch conservatives who oppose abortion, same-sex marriage and the federal health care overhaul.
No Democrat filed for the seat in the solidly Republican district.
Gregory served in the House before joining the Senate after winning a special election in 2013 to serve the remainder of Williams’ term after the former Senate president resigned to accept an appointment to a judgeship.
