Kentucky Democrats Spent Like Drunken Sailors In Losing Special Election Efforts Where Jimmy Higdon Beat Jody Haydon. Read More Below.
Democrats spent nearly $900,000 on special election
By Joseph Gerth
Democrat Jody Haydon lost last month's special state Senate election even though he and the Kentucky Democratic Party spent more than $890,000 on his campaign, according to a report filed with the state Registry of Election Finance.
His opponent, Republican Jimmy Higdon, and the Republican Party spent only $328,000 in winning the 14th District seat that had been held by former Senate Majority Leader Dan Kelly.
In what was the most expensive state Senate campaign in Kentucky's history, Higdon said Tuesday that he expected the Democrats to outspend him. When the Democratic Party and others began running ads against him, “we just stayed the course” and focused on telephone calls to voters in the district.
“We overcame a lot of negative advertisements one phone call at a time,” he said.
“They ran a far better race that we did,” said Senate Minority Leader Ed Worley, a Richmond Democrat. “They had better polling than we did, and they apparently understood the district better than we understood it. … We just got beat.”
The race became the focal point of Kentucky politics last month as the Democrats tried to capture the seat and narrow the Republican majority in the Senate to just two votes. Republicans now have a 21-17 advantage, including one independent who caucuses with them.
Gov. Steve Beshear created the opening when he appointed Kelly to a circuit judgeship, drawing criticism from Senate President David Williams, who accused the governor of allowing politics to determine appointments to lucrative government jobs.
The governor had previously appointed Republican Sen. Charlie Borders to a $117,000-a-year job on the state Public Service Commission.
Rep. Robin Webb, a Democrat, won a special election to fill that vacancy, outspending her Republican opponent by $259,000.
In the Higdon-Haydon race, the horse industry group Keep Our Jobs in Kentucky spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on behalf of Haydon, running television and radio ads on Louisville and Lexington stations. Haydon supported the group’s efforts to allow video lottery terminals at the state’s race tracks.
Higdon opposed the legislation but said he would vote to put expanded gambling before the public in the form of a constitutional amendment.
In the final two weeks of the campaign, Haydon raised $130,000, including a $50,000 personal loan to his campaign. And the Democratic Party contributed $226,787 in in-kind contributions to the campaign during that period.
In all, Haydon raised $463,144 in contributions and candidate loans. He also received $439,581 in in-kind contributions from the state Democratic Party, largely in the form of television and radio commercials. Of those amounts, more than $890,000 was spent on his campaign.
Higdon spent $196,000 on his campaign and accepted $132,000 in in-kind contributions, mostly in the form of television commercials from the Republican Party of Kentucky.
Editor's comment: Reading the headline reminds me of Fool's Gold.
By Joseph Gerth
Democrat Jody Haydon lost last month's special state Senate election even though he and the Kentucky Democratic Party spent more than $890,000 on his campaign, according to a report filed with the state Registry of Election Finance.
His opponent, Republican Jimmy Higdon, and the Republican Party spent only $328,000 in winning the 14th District seat that had been held by former Senate Majority Leader Dan Kelly.
In what was the most expensive state Senate campaign in Kentucky's history, Higdon said Tuesday that he expected the Democrats to outspend him. When the Democratic Party and others began running ads against him, “we just stayed the course” and focused on telephone calls to voters in the district.
“We overcame a lot of negative advertisements one phone call at a time,” he said.
“They ran a far better race that we did,” said Senate Minority Leader Ed Worley, a Richmond Democrat. “They had better polling than we did, and they apparently understood the district better than we understood it. … We just got beat.”
The race became the focal point of Kentucky politics last month as the Democrats tried to capture the seat and narrow the Republican majority in the Senate to just two votes. Republicans now have a 21-17 advantage, including one independent who caucuses with them.
Gov. Steve Beshear created the opening when he appointed Kelly to a circuit judgeship, drawing criticism from Senate President David Williams, who accused the governor of allowing politics to determine appointments to lucrative government jobs.
The governor had previously appointed Republican Sen. Charlie Borders to a $117,000-a-year job on the state Public Service Commission.
Rep. Robin Webb, a Democrat, won a special election to fill that vacancy, outspending her Republican opponent by $259,000.
In the Higdon-Haydon race, the horse industry group Keep Our Jobs in Kentucky spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on behalf of Haydon, running television and radio ads on Louisville and Lexington stations. Haydon supported the group’s efforts to allow video lottery terminals at the state’s race tracks.
Higdon opposed the legislation but said he would vote to put expanded gambling before the public in the form of a constitutional amendment.
In the final two weeks of the campaign, Haydon raised $130,000, including a $50,000 personal loan to his campaign. And the Democratic Party contributed $226,787 in in-kind contributions to the campaign during that period.
In all, Haydon raised $463,144 in contributions and candidate loans. He also received $439,581 in in-kind contributions from the state Democratic Party, largely in the form of television and radio commercials. Of those amounts, more than $890,000 was spent on his campaign.
Higdon spent $196,000 on his campaign and accepted $132,000 in in-kind contributions, mostly in the form of television commercials from the Republican Party of Kentucky.
Editor's comment: Reading the headline reminds me of Fool's Gold.
Labels: Democratism, Kentucky politics, Republicanism
posted by KYJurisDoctor at 11:11 AM
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