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News and Notes for Thursday
Republican lawmakers promise a “school choice” amendment will come up in Kentucky’s legislative session. Conservative legislators have long pushed for “school choice” measures, like charter schools and scholarship tax credits, but a provision in the state constitution banning public education dollars from being spent on entities besides “common schools” has hamstrung their efforts.Now Republican leaders say they plan to amend the state’s fundamental document to allow such programs. (LPM News)
‘Shame on Western Kentucky’
In his campaign kickoff speech at the storied Fancy Farm picnic in Graves County, Gov. Andy Beshear touted job-generating “record economic development” in western Kentucky on his watch. He also cited “hundreds of million dollars” that have flowed into the region via the Western Kentucky Tornado Relief Fund, which he started.
What will be the record of our new AG when it comes to open government?
Speculating on the future of Kentucky’s open government laws under Attorney General-elect Russell Coleman may be premature, even unfair, but it has been suggested that we undertake an evaluation based on what we know. Coleman spent the majority of his career in federal law enforcement, working later as a...
Abortion rights victories show this issue is unlikely to fade in 2024 elections
Abortion rights advocates won major victories in several state elections on Nov. 7, 2023, signaling that abortion laws are likely to continue to play an important role in the 2024 elections. In Ohio, the only state where abortion was directly on the ballot, more than 56% of voters in the...
Rural voters shift toward Beshear in governor’s race
Rural voters were part of a statewide shift toward incumbent Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear this week, helping give the Democrat a 5-point election victory in a state that Donald Trump won by over 25 points three years ago. Beshear won the statewide vote 52.5% to 47.5%, a comfortable margin compared...
Weddle’s excess giving to Beshear, Kentucky Democratic Party under investigation
State campaign finance regulators have launched a civil investigation into the excess campaign contributions given by London Mayor Randall Weddle to the reelection campaign of Gov. Andy Beshear and the Kentucky Democratic Party. The Kentucky Registry of Election Finance (KREF) on Monday mailed notice of the investigation to Weddle and...
Andy Beshear’s success is not a fluke
When Democrat Andy Beshear won the 2019 gubernatorial contest, election observers both inside and outside Kentucky passed off his success as a fluke. Usually, they didn’t even give Beshear credit for his own victory. Instead, they attributed Beshear’s win to his opponent, combative Republican Gov. Matt Bevin. Beshear won because Bevin was “a jerk.”
News and Notes for Monday, 11/13
Secret Service agents protecting Biden's granddaughter open fire when 3 people try to break into SUV. Secret Service agents protecting President Joe Biden’s granddaughter opened fire after three people tried to break into an unmarked Secret Service vehicle in the nation’s capital, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press.
The hate campaign was a failed campaign
“The report of my death was an exaggeration,” Mark Twain famously replied to an erroneous New York newspaper story about his passing. The egregious gaffe ever reminds me of right-wing pundits and politicians who everlastingly preach the union movement’s funeral. Andy Beshear’s victory in the governor’s race suggested anew that conservative claims of labor’s demise are wishful thinking.
WHY Polling is Dead, Dead, Dead.
My major in college, back in the 60’s, was “public policy”, which meant polling. In those days it was considered highly predictive of reality, IF done correctly. We learned about all the techniques, all the pitfalls, all the possible mistakes that had been made, or could possibly be made, and how to avoid them. I spent two years learning to “do it correctly”, and my senior thesis was a survey which I designed, administered, analyzed, and wrote up as a 90 page report.
Among the Repub D-List
All you have to do to get a good laugh at the Republican presidential field of also-rans is turn to on any of funnier progressive pundit scribes or any of the Democratic or progressive podcasts. Now, in their more serious (or more centrist) incarnations, pundits are saying that the GOP D-List that’s officially running for president all want to raise their profiles for a different higher office, or are vying to be vice president for the presumed nominee. (As if anyone as petty, shallow, and vindictive as Donald Trump would even think about making anyone who had the temerity to run against him his VP candidate!)
Down-ballot Dems lose state-wide races
While Andy Beshear was rolling to a second-term, his hoped-for coattails did not materialize, as all the down-ballot Democrats lost their races for state-wide office. The race for secretary of state was called early, with the incumbent Michael Adams besting Buddy Wheatley 60.6% to 39.4%. Allison Ball’s race for auditor...
Ticket-splitters propel Beshear to resounding victory
In an election that saw no other Democrat come close to victory, Governor Andy Beshear drew support from across the political spectrum to win re-election to a second term. The most popular Democratic governor in the country significantly outperformed his 2019 results, winning red county after red county. In 2019, he beat Matt Bevin by about 5,000 votes; against AG Daniel Cameron, that margin ballooned to 67,000 votes, for a 52.5% to 47.5% victory.
Adrielle Camuel wins special election to KY House
In the special election to fill the vacant seat caused by the death of Rep. Lamin Swann, Democrat Adrielle Camuel won easily. House District 93 is usually a strong Democratic district, and it followed that pattern this year, electing Camuel over the Republican Kyle Whalen by over 15 points, 57.6% to 42.4%.
Ohio enshrines abortion rights in state constitution
In yet another election showing that voters support a woman’s right to an abortion, Ohio voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment explicitly ensuring such rights. As noted by the New York Times,. This citizen-sponsored measure would make Ohio the latest in a string of states to enshrine a right...
Democrats take control of Virginia legislature
In a race that was closely watched as a possible harbinger of 2024, Democrats in Virginia gained control of the state legislature by flipping the House of Delegates and maintaining their majority in the state Senate. The election was seen as a rebuke of Governor Glenn Youngkin, a Republican who...
Beshear appeals to our better angels; Cameron panders to prejudice
The Andy Beshear and Daniel Cameron campaigns ended the way they started. Gov. Beshear, a moderate Democrat, appealed to inclusiveness and to our better angels. Attorney Gen. Daniel Cameron, the hard-right MAGA Republican who wants Beshear’s job, stuck to divisiveness and pandering to prejudice. Back with the homefolks. Both...
‘If we don’t have Beshear back in there, we won’t have a firewall any more.’
Pick a cliché: Now or never. Crunch time. Backs against the wall. Do or die. They all apply to the governor’s race, if you pack a union card. “If we don’t have [Andy] Beshear back in there, we won’t have a firewall any more. They will control every branch of government. [Daniel Cameron] will be a replay of Matt Bevin,” warned Robert Harrington at a Paducah fundraiser for the governor Friday evening. Harrington is a Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 184 and IAM Local 1720 retiree.
Volunteers needed for last-minute GOTV efforts
Here are five GOTV events happening today and tomorrow. Some are in person, and some are virtual. Click the link to sign up!. Monday and Tuesday; multiple times available. Click here to sign up. Knocking doors in Rowan County. Monday and Tuesday; multiple times available. Click here to sign up.
Important Update #2, plus weekly story list
Good evening! As you can see from the title, this is our second weekly newsletter with an Important Update®. (If you missed the first, it’s listed below.) This week’s update is the re-opening of the ForwardKy Store. For now, we just have some bumper stickers for sale. But my goal is to expand it with some other Dem, progressive, and ForwardKY swag. So, check it out!
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