Horse Group, Keep Our Jobs In Kentucky Inc., Spent Nearly A Million Dollars "OBSCENELY" To Win One, Lose One, In Kentucky Senate Races.
Kentucky horse group spent nearly $850,000 on Senate races
By Joseph Gerth
A Kentucky horse-industry group that supports legalizing electronic slot machines at the state’s racetracks spent nearly $850,000 last year to help Democrats in two state Senate races, according to a finance report filed Friday.
The group, Keep Our Jobs in Kentucky Inc., is funded largely by Kentucky’s racetracks and horse breeders, with the biggest contributors giving $75,000 each.
The report, filed with the Internal Revenue Service, said the group spent $266,460 in a race won by Democrat Robin Webb last August and $482,044 in a losing effort on behalf of Democrat Jodie Haydon in December. It spent about $93,000 more on administrative costs.
Webb beat Republican Jack Ditty, a Flatwoods dermatologist, to win the seat vacated by Republican Charlie Borders, who was appointed to the Public Service Commission by Gov. Steve Beshear, a Democrat and an advocate of expanded gambling.
Haydon lost to state Rep. Jimmy Higdon to fill the seat previously held by Senate GOP floor leader Dan Kelly, whom Beshear appointed to a circuit judgeship.
Each race set a new record for spending in a state Senate race. The Webb-Ditty race cost $1.2 million and the Higdon-Haydon race nearly $1.8 million. In both cases, Democrats greatly outspent Republicans.
Keep Our Jobs in Kentucky is a political-action committee created under Chapter 527 of the IRS code. Although banned from urging voters to support or oppose a candidate, it can run ads similar to those a candidate might run, while stopping short of an explicit request for a vote.
The group is required to file a finance report only once a year, by Feb. 1. That means voters are unlikely to know who is paying for its ads during a campaign.
In an interview Friday, Webb called the amount of money spent on the two races “obscene.” The amount spent by the industry group surprised her “a little bit,” she said.
“I’m surprised by how much I spent,” she said. “It’s an anomaly, I hope, and not going to be the norm.”
And Webb said she questions whether all the money spent — by her or the horse group — made any difference in the election.
“I don’t think it mattered,” she said. “In a special election there are so many variables that go into it, the weather, what people are doing that day, the time of year.”
Higdon said all the money spent against him may have backfired to a degree.
“We spent a lot of time on the telephone, one person at a time, and we explained how those commercials were an ounce of truth, and they turned them into a 600-pound gorilla,” he said.
“The people that knew me best, a lot were upset because they knew they weren’t true,” he said of the commercials. “Did they overplay their hand? They might have.”
Beshear, through spokeswoman Kerri Richardson, said he wouldn’t comment on the amount of money spent on the races.
“We’re going to let the numbers speak for themselves,” she said.
Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville, did not respond to requests for comment.
The Republican-controlled Senate has blocked Beshear’s effort to expand gambling as a way to help the horse industry and generate revenue for the beleaguered state budget.
The governor’s appointments of Borders and Kelly were widely viewed as part of an effort to wrest Senate control from the GOP. And Keep Our Jobs In Kentucky was working to elect candidates who would side with the horse industry on the issue of slots at the tracks.
The industry says it needs help because other states are supplementing purses and breeder awards with proceeds from slot machines and in some cases casino-style gambling. As a result, it says, more Kentucky horses are being moved out-of-state for racing and breeding purposes.
The group is now trying to determine what its next step will be.
“The decision to participate in the electoral process should send a clear message that we will fight to protect the thousands of Kentucky families who rely on the horse industry to make a living,” Keep Our Jobs in Kentucky’s board of directors said in a statement.
“At the conclusion of the legislative session, our organization will determine the best approach to help ensure that Kentucky horse jobs are kept here in the state.”
More than half of the $845,000 raised by the group came from the horse tracks, with Churchill Downs, Keeneland, Ellis Park, Turfway Park and The Red Mile each contributing $75,000. Kentucky Downs gave $65,000.
Most of the rest of the money came from breeders, racing stables and others involved in horseracing, including a Lexington equine hospital and an insurance company that covers horses.
Spendthrift Farm contributed $30,000, while the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association, Hagyard Equine Medical Institute, Mount Brilliant Farm, Airdrie Stud, Padua Stables, Winstar Farm, Ashford Stud, Siena Farm owner Anthony Manganaro and Lane’s End Farm Chairman William Farish each gave $25,000.
Others gave smaller amounts, and all but $100,000 came from people or corporations based in Kentucky.
The Republican State Leadership Committee, which aired ads on behalf of both Ditty and Higdon, spent $92,545 for Ditty and $78,399 for Higdon. That group works to elect Republicans to state legislatures before congressional redistricting, which will follow the 2010 census.
Reporter Joseph Gerth can be reached at (502) 582-4702.
By Joseph Gerth
A Kentucky horse-industry group that supports legalizing electronic slot machines at the state’s racetracks spent nearly $850,000 last year to help Democrats in two state Senate races, according to a finance report filed Friday.
The group, Keep Our Jobs in Kentucky Inc., is funded largely by Kentucky’s racetracks and horse breeders, with the biggest contributors giving $75,000 each.
The report, filed with the Internal Revenue Service, said the group spent $266,460 in a race won by Democrat Robin Webb last August and $482,044 in a losing effort on behalf of Democrat Jodie Haydon in December. It spent about $93,000 more on administrative costs.
Webb beat Republican Jack Ditty, a Flatwoods dermatologist, to win the seat vacated by Republican Charlie Borders, who was appointed to the Public Service Commission by Gov. Steve Beshear, a Democrat and an advocate of expanded gambling.
Haydon lost to state Rep. Jimmy Higdon to fill the seat previously held by Senate GOP floor leader Dan Kelly, whom Beshear appointed to a circuit judgeship.
Each race set a new record for spending in a state Senate race. The Webb-Ditty race cost $1.2 million and the Higdon-Haydon race nearly $1.8 million. In both cases, Democrats greatly outspent Republicans.
Keep Our Jobs in Kentucky is a political-action committee created under Chapter 527 of the IRS code. Although banned from urging voters to support or oppose a candidate, it can run ads similar to those a candidate might run, while stopping short of an explicit request for a vote.
The group is required to file a finance report only once a year, by Feb. 1. That means voters are unlikely to know who is paying for its ads during a campaign.
In an interview Friday, Webb called the amount of money spent on the two races “obscene.” The amount spent by the industry group surprised her “a little bit,” she said.
“I’m surprised by how much I spent,” she said. “It’s an anomaly, I hope, and not going to be the norm.”
And Webb said she questions whether all the money spent — by her or the horse group — made any difference in the election.
“I don’t think it mattered,” she said. “In a special election there are so many variables that go into it, the weather, what people are doing that day, the time of year.”
Higdon said all the money spent against him may have backfired to a degree.
“We spent a lot of time on the telephone, one person at a time, and we explained how those commercials were an ounce of truth, and they turned them into a 600-pound gorilla,” he said.
“The people that knew me best, a lot were upset because they knew they weren’t true,” he said of the commercials. “Did they overplay their hand? They might have.”
Beshear, through spokeswoman Kerri Richardson, said he wouldn’t comment on the amount of money spent on the races.
“We’re going to let the numbers speak for themselves,” she said.
Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville, did not respond to requests for comment.
The Republican-controlled Senate has blocked Beshear’s effort to expand gambling as a way to help the horse industry and generate revenue for the beleaguered state budget.
The governor’s appointments of Borders and Kelly were widely viewed as part of an effort to wrest Senate control from the GOP. And Keep Our Jobs In Kentucky was working to elect candidates who would side with the horse industry on the issue of slots at the tracks.
The industry says it needs help because other states are supplementing purses and breeder awards with proceeds from slot machines and in some cases casino-style gambling. As a result, it says, more Kentucky horses are being moved out-of-state for racing and breeding purposes.
The group is now trying to determine what its next step will be.
“The decision to participate in the electoral process should send a clear message that we will fight to protect the thousands of Kentucky families who rely on the horse industry to make a living,” Keep Our Jobs in Kentucky’s board of directors said in a statement.
“At the conclusion of the legislative session, our organization will determine the best approach to help ensure that Kentucky horse jobs are kept here in the state.”
More than half of the $845,000 raised by the group came from the horse tracks, with Churchill Downs, Keeneland, Ellis Park, Turfway Park and The Red Mile each contributing $75,000. Kentucky Downs gave $65,000.
Most of the rest of the money came from breeders, racing stables and others involved in horseracing, including a Lexington equine hospital and an insurance company that covers horses.
Spendthrift Farm contributed $30,000, while the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association, Hagyard Equine Medical Institute, Mount Brilliant Farm, Airdrie Stud, Padua Stables, Winstar Farm, Ashford Stud, Siena Farm owner Anthony Manganaro and Lane’s End Farm Chairman William Farish each gave $25,000.
Others gave smaller amounts, and all but $100,000 came from people or corporations based in Kentucky.
The Republican State Leadership Committee, which aired ads on behalf of both Ditty and Higdon, spent $92,545 for Ditty and $78,399 for Higdon. That group works to elect Republicans to state legislatures before congressional redistricting, which will follow the 2010 census.
Reporter Joseph Gerth can be reached at (502) 582-4702.
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