Northern Kentucky incumbents ousted in legislative primary

The epicenter of the Republican intraparty battles was in northern Kentucky — the place the shakeups occurred. State Rep. Adam Koenig was unseated by Steven Doan. Rep. C. Ed Massey misplaced to Steve Rawlings, whereas Rep. Sal Santoro was defeated by Marianne Proctor.

Republican Senate Majority Ground Chief Damon Thayer, in sizing up the three races, stated Wednesday {that a} “libertarian-populist narrative labored in a really, very low turnout election.”

Koenig and Massey had been committee chairmen whereas Santoro had a key position in setting transportation spending as a funds evaluation subcommittee chairman. Koenig additionally gained prominence for main the push to legalize sports activities betting in Kentucky — an effort that got here up quick once more this yr.

Incumbent GOP lawmakers fared a lot better elsewhere within the state. State Sen. Donald Douglas defeated challenger Andrew Cooperrider in a high-spending major. Different incumbents who gained carefully watched primaries included Reps. Kim King, Brandon Reed and Samara Heavrin.

Requested to evaluate the general major season, Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear on Wednesday stated: “What I am seeing are nastier primaries. And we have to get past nasty elections usually. I do not want among the mailers that I noticed on anyone.”

Beshear is making ready for his personal robust reelection struggle subsequent yr.

With Republicans so dominant throughout a lot of Kentucky, profitable the GOP major in lots of districts is tantamount to securing a legislative seat. It has resulted in some hotly contested races.

“I don’t see an enormous message on this major apart from it was the primary of many the place just about all of the motion of import can be in Could GOP primaries,” stated Scott Jennings, a Kentuckian and former adviser to President George W. Bush. “We’ve change into so dominant so quick, and the GOP should reckon with these inside fights for a few years to return.”

Republican supermajorities in Kentucky’s legislature embody lawmakers characterised as business-oriented conservatives, social conservatives and libertarians. A lot of their views overlap — on such points as gun rights, low taxes and opposition to abortion. A few of this yr’s GOP primaries pitted historically conservative incumbents towards libertarian-minded challengers.

“What you are seeing is simply rising pains as a result of the Republican Occasion is rising in Kentucky,” Reed stated in an interview Wednesday on the state Capitol.

Reed, the vice chairman of the Home Appropriations and Income Committee, gained his major with almost 70% of the vote in his rural district. Reed emphasised the first victories by lawmakers aligned with the “conventional social gathering” — which he stated has reshaped Kentucky insurance policies for the reason that GOP gained complete management of the legislature after the 2016 election.

Requested if he noticed room within the social gathering for libertarians, Reed replied: “I believe there’s room within the Republican Occasion for Republicans. If you wish to be a libertarian, you most likely must go be a part of the Libertarian Occasion and run as a libertarian.”

Whereas the losses among the many three northern Kentucky lawmakers garnered appreciable consideration, Thayer pointed to the success of different GOP incumbents in Tuesday’s legislative primaries.

“Most incumbents had been rewarded for his or her work passing lots of precedence conservative laws during the last couple of years,” Thayer stated in a telephone interview.

Major losses by Koenig and Massey will create openings for 2 committee chairmanships. Koenig has been chairman of the Home Licensing, Occupations and Administrative Rules Committee. Massey wielded affect as chairman of the Home Judiciary Committee.

The outcomes of GOP primaries, each this yr and in probably contested primaries in coming years, may issue into the divides that generally floor within the legislature on such points as constitution colleges and whether or not to legalize sports activities betting and medical marijuana.

With Koenig’s defeat, one other lawmaker should step up as the first sponsor of laws to legalize sports activities betting in Kentucky.

“It is essential that we elect folks to all places of work that may assist us get issues performed,” Beshear stated in an interview on the statehouse. “Which are prepared to place variations apart and push ahead on key points like sports activities betting and medical marijuana. Their time has come and we have to make it possible for we’re electing individuals who imagine in them.”

Elsewhere, GOP voters settled two incumbent-vs.-incumbent primaries — the results of a brand new Home redistricting map handed because of statewide inhabitants shifts mirrored within the 2020 U.S. census.

In western Kentucky, Rep. Jim Gooch Jr. defeated fellow Rep. Lynn Bechler. In a newly drawn jap Kentucky district, Rep. Bobby McCool defeated Rep. Norma Kirk-McCormick.

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Related Press Author Piper Hudspeth Blackburn in Louisville, Kentucky, contributed to this story.