Ernie Fletcher

DENVER – During the 2003 Democratic gubernatorial primary, candidates Ben Chandler (D-Versailles) and Bruce Lunsford (D-Louisville) waged a contentious fight against each other. Attacks were frequent and the television ads were vicious, with then-Attorney General Chandler’s campaign airing out allegations of business impropriety against Lunsford. Lunsford subsequently dropped out of the race before the primary and said he would vote against Chandler if he won the nomination.

Chandler did, and Lunsford endorsed the Republican candidate – and eventual winner – Ernie Fletcher.

This morning – some five years later - the two former opponents shared a table at the Kentucky delegation’s breakfast in Denver, the site of this year’s Democratic National Convention. Chandler is in Denver as a superdelegate while Lunsford is here to rally support for his U.S. Senate bid against incumbent Mitch McConnell (R-Louisville).

Perhaps the seating arrangement was suitable foreshadowing for what was to come when Chandler took the podium to speak to the gathered delegates, dashing any rumors that he was not supporting Lunsford’s candidacy.

Chandler commenced his remarks by referring to a less contentious primary battle than that one from 2003 – this year’s Democratic presidential primary between U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.). Chandler made a call for unity between supporters of the two candidates and then delivered an appropriate segue.

“You all may remember just 5 years ago we had a somewhat difficult primary in the governor’s race in Kentucky,” said Chandler to some chuckles from the crowd. “There were some of us that weren’t terribly happy about it. On all sides, there were some bruised feelings.”

The office of Governor Steve Beshear (D-Lexington) released a statement today saying the current administration would cooperate with a federal investigation into potential illegalities in the state's transportation department during his predecessor's tenure.

"We have been and will continue to cooperate fully with the federal investigation into allegations of impropriety at the Transportation Cabinet during the previous administration," said Beshear in the statement. "I was elected to create a culture of integrity at the cabinet and throughout state government and we are making substantive progress toward that goal. Our full cooperation with this investigation from the beginning has been an important part of that process."

Former Transportation Secretary Bill Nighbert was one of the targets of an affadavit alleging that he and road contractor Leonard Lawson collaborated to obtain sealed construction estimates from state engineers.

Former Transportation Secretary Bill Nighbert and road contractor and major political contributor Leonard Lawson are the targets of a federal investigation, according to an affadavit obtained by the Louisville Courier-Journal revealling allegations that road construction estimates were illegally leaked to Lawson.

The affadavit charges that Nighbert or Lawson told state engineer James Rummage to obtain construction estimates for road projects, some of which were directly given to Lawson.

"Nighbert or road contractor Leonard Lawson directed Rummage to obtain the (transportation cabinet's) engineer's estimates," the affadavit reads, according to the Courier-Journal. "On some occasions, Rummage delivered the engineer's estimates to Nighbert, but on others he gave them directly to Lawson. On four of these times, Lawson gave Rummage $5,000 cash, for a total of $20,000."

Rummage is currently cooperating with federal investigators.

Do Kentucky voters like to hedge their votes between national and state leaders? The party that wins Kentucky's popular vote in Presidential elections has usually gone on to lose the governor's seat, though the trend has broken in recent years.

After eight of the nine presidential elections between 1956 and 1988, the commonwealth elected a governor from the party that lost the popular vote in the prior presidential election. The exception was in 1976 when Jimmy Carter (D) carried Kentucky, followed by the gubernatorial election of John Y. Brown Jr., (D) in 1979.

Voters then elected President Bill Clinton (D) and Governor Paul E. Patton (D) twice in the `90s, though Clinton's pluralities may have been facilitated by Independent candidate Ross Perot, especially in 1992 when he drew 25 percent of the vote. Republican Ernie Fletcher was elected governor in 2003 following George W. Bush's (R) victory in 2000. Perhaps reverting back to an old trend, the election of Steve Beshear's (D) in 2007 followed President Bush's 20 point Kentucky win in 2004.

The 128th annual Fancy Farm picnic is scheduled for this Saturday, and legions of Kentucky's politicians and political junkies are headed to western Kentucky for the event's uniquely participatory political forum. With November's general election looming, some politicians have been hyping their speeches at the event for months, but the news that U.S. Senators Mitch McConnell (R-Louisville) and Jim Bunning (R-Southgate) may not be attending could put a damper on the potentially rowdy affair.

The Fancy Farm picnic - located in Fancy Farm, Kentucky - began as a bar-b-que and barn dance that has since morphed into one of the state's most important political traditions. Candidates for office in western Kentucky and those running statewide are expected to attend and speak before an audience of thousands notorious for rowdy heckling and theatrical behavior.

Legend has it that any politician not braving the crowd at the event will not be elected.

2nd District Congressional candidate Brett GuthrieKentucky native Scott Jennings is working back in his home state as a consultant for the 2nd District Congressional campaign of state Senator Brett Guthrie (R-Bowling Green).

Jennings appeared with Guthrie at the 4th Congressional District Lincoln-Reagan dinner on April 12. He will serve as a political consultant for Guthrie. While requests for comment on specifics were unreturned, Jennings will join the Guthrie campaign with considerable political experience.

On the day the Bruce Lunsford campaign announced the forthcoming launch of a new Web site, Lunsford’s Democratic competition in the primary for the U.S. Senate took shots at the millionaire Louisville businessman over another site featuring his name.  read more »

The Herald Leader takes a look at the ethics investigation into Crystal Murray Ducker, former Gov. Ernie Fletcher's Deputy Secretary.