Some of Kentucky‘s Republican primary for the legislature was the latest chapter in a three-decade struggle between traditional elements of the state Republican Party’s “establishment” and those who want it to be more conservative. This latter faction is gaining ground, but is taking too much advantage of its modest gains in low-turnout elections influenced by local quirks and other factors.
Rep. Savannah Maddox, whose outspokenness makes her a Frankfort facsimile of U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), called the results “a complete rejection of business as usual” in the state capital. Her post on X, formerly known as Twitter, was retweeted by 4th District U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie; He and U.S. Sen. Rand Paul are opinion leaders in the self-described “Freedom Caucus” of Republican insurgents.
Maddox’s claim hung on two hooks: the 4.4 percentage point loss of House Agriculture Committee Chairman Richard Heath of Mayfield and the landslide defeat of moderate Rep. Kilian Timoney of Nicholasville. He would have a stronger case if House Health Services Committee Chairwoman Kim Moser of Taylor Mill had not won the reappointment (by just 84 votes out of 3,000 cast).
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Richard Heath’s primary defeat came as a shock to many.
Heath, a veteran lawmaker who had nearly won two state primaries for agriculture commissioner, lost to Liberty challenger Kimberly Holloway by 161 votes out of 3,647 cast. Even Holloway said she was surprised, but Heath was undermined by the lawsuits she had filed: a traffic accident case that some considered frivolous and that kicked Holloway off the 2022 ballot.
Timoney lost by nearly 3-1 to Thomas Jefferson, whose name evokes a higher plane than his campaign and an allied group, which sent mailers labeling Timoney “Groomer Killian” and suggesting he was a sexual predator because he voted against the bill. of Senate law. 150, the anti-transgender law of 2023 and the ban on transgender athletes. (Moser became a target when he voted against SB 150, saying, “To the rest of the world watching Kentucky: We are not Neanderthals.”)
Kentucky Republicans received campaign dollars from establishment sources
Some of the money behind Jefferson came from supporters of “gray machines,” gaming devices that were banned by a 2023 bill sponsored by Timoney. But the really big money in the legislative elections came from establishment sources like the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce and a moderate establishment group that called itself the Commonwealth Conservative Coalition.
Maddox said the CCC “wasted $846,818 trying to defeat strong incumbents” and “EVERY incumbent the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce endorsed AGAINST won.”
Those establishment groups and Senate leaders backed Ed Gallrein against fellow Shelbyville resident Aaron Reed and incumbent Sen. Adriene Southworth, a right-wing election denier who came in third because of her extreme views and a radical redistricting of votes. districts that gave him all new voters except those in his home county of Anderson.
Reed had wanted to run in 2022, but redistricting put him in an odd-numbered district in a year when only even-numbered districts were on the ballot. He had been campaigning since 2022 and beat Anderson, key to his victory. Establishment Republicans expect him to be more disruptive than her. He told Joe Sonka of Louisville Public Media: “Now they have to eat some crow and they have to come to me if they want to bring me into the fold.”
Both Reed and Jefferson have Democratic opponents, who could have a chance in an election that will see much higher turnout than the 13% statewide primary.
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Election results show that Kentucky wants to move further to the right
But low turnout does not fully explain the election results. Most of the energy in the Kentucky Republican Party is clearly with those who want it to move further to the right, who reject the leadership of U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell and who look to Paul and Massie for ideological guidance and inspiration. Maddox was probably right when he said after the election that the insurgents’ successes will energize them for the next round of legislative elections in 2026.
What he didn’t say, and what is also likely, is that some Republicans in power will likely move further to the right to fend off opposition within the party. That could provide opportunities for Democrats to begin rebuilding their legislative influence, a task that will take time and more leadership than Gov. Andy Beshear has shown in his role as party leader.
One more note on the primaries: I raised my hopes before the election by saying I would be watching the presidential vote for signs that support for former President Donald Trump might be eroding ahead of his “hush money” trial. But Kentucky Republicans gave just 6.4% of their votes to Nikki Haley, who had suspended her campaign but had not endorsed Trump. (She said later that week that she would vote for him.) Her votes and those of Chris Christie (who has not yet endorsed Trump) and the “uncommitted” totaled just 11%, making Kentucky Republican voters look even more Trumpy than West. Virginia’s.
Al Cross (X @ruralj) is a professor at the University of Kentucky’s School of Journalism and Media and director emeritus of its Rural Journalism and Community Affairs Institute. His opinions are his own, not those of the United Kingdom. He was the longest-serving political writer at the Louisville Courier Journal (1989-2004) and national president of the Society of Professional Journalists in 2001-02. He joined the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame in 2010. The NKyTribune anchors his column.
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