Republican Phil Moffett Is Starting To Get Tea Party Backing For Kentucky Governor's Race.

GOP's Phil Moffett picks up tea party backing
Written by Joseph Gerth

Republican gubernatorial candidate Phil Moffett, who has raised less than $100,000 for the May 17 GOP primary, is getting new tea party backing that he hopes will jumpstart his campaign.

Moffett has been traveling the state since last year, trying to collect money and backers.

He’s still waiting for the payoff. The only public poll to date shows him trailing Gov. Steve Beshear by 25 percentage points, while his chief primary opponent, Senate President David Williams, is within 10 points of Beshear.

But over the weekend Moffett and his running mate, state Rep. Mike Harmon of Danville, won a straw poll conducted by the Northern Kentucky Tea Party.

Meanwhile, the leadership of the Bowling Green/Southern Kentucky Tea Party voted to endorse Moffett as well.

And on Tuesday the Louisville Tea Party announced that Moffett had won its straw poll. He finished with 82 percent of the vote while Jefferson County Clerk Bobbie Holsclaw got 14 percent and Williams, of Burkesville, got only 4 percent.

“Its timing is fortuitous because the message is getting out that David Williams is part of the establishment and part of the problem,” said David Adams, Moffett’s campaign manager.

Scott Jennings, Williams’ campaign manager, said he’s not certain if Williams was ever informed that he was competing in the straw polls and endorsement contests and that he didn’t have a chance to rally support.

The Louisville Tea Party’s endorsement paints Williams as someone who has only recently endorsed the group’s principles.

“When David Williams became Senate president, Kentucky had $3.5 billion in bonded debt and a $500 million surplus in public employee pension funds,” the group’s endorsement says. “Ten years later, Kentucky is quickly approaching $10 billion in bonded debt and $34 billion in unfunded pension liabilities.”

Williams has repeatedly defended his work in the Senate. He says he has stopped governors from spending more and recently battled Gov. Steve Beshear over Medicaid, trying to force budget cuts across state government in an effort to save $166 million. ...

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