A deep red Kentucky special election
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The Republican Party's supermajority in the Kentucky General Assembly will remain just as dominant when they return to session in January, as they handed Democrats three more blowout losses Tuesday in special elections to fill vacant seats.
But when will Republicans share those redistricting maps they've been working on behind the scenes? As that question hangs in the air, we took a closer look at the issue and when the GOP supermajority will be able to create new districts.
Also this week, Gov. Andy Beshear landed more huge economic development projects for Kentucky, while Hazard Mayor Donald "Happy" Mobelini landed many huge headlines of the very unwanted kind.
GOP strengthens legislative grip
Virginia wasn't the only state where Republican candidates were mopping the floor with Democrats on Tuesday, as the GOP had a clean sweep in the special election for three open seats to Kentucky's legislature.
The new legislators-elect to soon join the ginormous Republican supermajority are Sen. Donald Douglas, the medical director at the Tony Delk IMAC Regeneration Center in Lexington; Rep. Michael “Sarge” Pollock, an insurance risk adviser from Campbellsville; and Rep. Timmy Truett, an elementary school principal in Jackson County.
While all three districts are conservative and have long been occupied by Republican legislators, the GOP candidates gained 72-78% of the vote in each, another signal that any candidates with a "D" next to their name in largely rural Kentucky districts currently face incredible odds.
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Seriously, what is up with redistricting?
Will the governor call a special session of the legislature to pass Republicans' redistricting map, or will he need to see those plans before he does so?
If there's no special session, can the legislature in the first few days of the session in January pass a bill to push back the Jan. 7 candidate filing deadline, or will chaos reign as candidates are forced to file having no idea where district lines are drawn?
Our politics guru Morgan Watkins took a deep dive into the redistricting issue and provided a glimpse of the behind-the-scenes strategies and scenarios that may play out in the two months ahead.
Beshear lands more big projects
The only major political bright spot for Kentucky Democrats these days is that Beshear keeps landing major economic development projects in the wake of the giant Ford battery plant deal, hauling in three more last week.
GE Appliances will create 1,000 new jobs with a $450 million investment to its Louisville complex; Tyson Foods will create 450 jobs with a $355 million investment in a new Bowling Green facility; and Toyota will create 950 more jobs with another $460 million invested in its Georgetown plant.
Beshear says Kentucky has crossed $10 billion for the year in announced economic development investment for new and expanded facilities, a new annual record.
In case you missed it
It's not every day that a mayor gets in trouble for getting lap dances from kids, but not every week is Hazard High School Homecoming week. Chris Kenning went to Hazard to listen to locals defending or criticizing the mayor/principal who made headlines across the country and may be in some more hot water.
What's with Kentucky low workforce participation rate and how do you address it? Here are two very different takes from the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce and the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy.
Prosecutors abruptly dismissed charges in the first trial stemming from 2020's racial justice protests in Louisville over the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor, due to video evidence not being turned over to the defense.
Metro Louisville agreed to pay $3.65 million to settle the lawsuits of seven former scouts who say they were sexually abused in the police Explorer program.
Louisville Archbishop Joseph Kurtz and most U.S. Catholic bishops were largely silent on climate change after Pope Francis called for climate action in 2015.
If anyone is interested in buying the three acres of vacant grass directly next door to former Gov. Matt Bevin's mansion in Anchorage, it recently went up for sale. Tom Loftus tells me he is not in the market.
Reach reporter Joe Sonka at jsonka@courierjournal.com and follow him on Twitter at @joesonka. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today at the top of this page.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: A deep red Kentucky special election
