The Republican Party of Kentucky, RPK, saw the "handwriting on the wall", as it spent comparably little on Fletcher's campaign.

Read Pol Watchers.

Here is an excerpt:

The Kentucky Democratic Party dropped $2 million on the fall election, compared to $170,000 for the Republican Party of Kentucky, according to campaign finance reports filed with the state Registry of Election Finance.

I guess you can say the RPK saw the "handwriting on the wall".