Senator voted against pension bill. Her opponent, a teacher, has questions anyway.

Republican Alice Forgy Kerr of Lexington was one of five state Senate Republicans in this year’s legislative session to vote against the controversial public pension bill that has riled many teachers.

Thousands of teachers across the state pledged to remember at the polls in November those lawmakers who voted for the measure. Many of those teachers are expected back at the Capitol Saturday to protest the law at another rally.

Kerr had spoken out against the legislative process in which a little-known sewage bill in the final days of the session was transformed in a matter of hours to a pension bill. She said teachers had been disrespected in the process.

But Fayette County educator Paula Setser-Kissick, a Democrat, thinks Kerr voted against the pension bill for a different reason.

“She knew she had an educator opponent in this year’s race for the 12th District,” she said, adding that Kerr last year backed a pension plan by Republican Gov. Matt Bevin “that was worse” than the measure that became law this year.

Setser-Kissick was referring to a legislative update Kerr released last Oct. 19, a day after Bevin unveiled a pension plan.

In the update, Kerr wrote, “As your state senator, I have vowed to keep the pension promise to our teachers and public servants, and I am certain that the pension reform plan proposed by Governor Bevin and the Kentucky General Assembly will do just that.”

Setser-Kissick, 53, wants to replace Kerr as the state senator from the 12th District in southern Fayette County.

The voters in the district will decide the contest at the polls on Nov. 6. It slightly leans Democratic in registration — 44,922 Democrats to 41,420 Republicans and 6,397 others — but Kerr has represented the district since 1999.

Kerr, 64, said she always has supported teachers and noted that she has degrees in education and several relatives who have been and are in education. She added that she has taught and was an administrator at Midway University and Northern Kentucky University.

“I would never do anything to hurt teachers,” she said.

Kerr said there was no bill last year, just plans. “It doesn’t matter what happens in the build-up to an eventual bill because it’s a dynamic process,” she said.

She said she proved on her only vote for a pension bill that she was in opposition and “fought hard” in her party caucus to defeat the measure.

In a recent interview, Kerr showed a “thank you” note dated March 13 from Kentucky Education Association President Stephanie Winkler.

It said: “I know how hard you’re fighting for educators behind the scenes. It is not going unnoticed.”

Winkler said this week that the note was “a very personal communication. Sen. Kerr had supported us on some committee votes and a lot of pressure was on her.

“I sent her a personal note to let her know we knew she was working hard.”

Winkler noted that the KEA’s political action committee has endorsed Setser-Kissick in this fall’s race and has given $1,000 to the Democrat’s campaign.

Both Kerr and Setser-Kissick said the state has a pension problem, but the way to solve is through more funding and not taking away any benefits promised to teachers.

This year’s pension bill did become law. Its fate is now in the hands of the Kentucky Supreme Court.

Kerr holds a substantial lead in campaign fund raising. Their pre-election 60-day reports, the most recent available, showed Kerr with $56,230 in receipts compared to $15,682 to Setser-Kissick. Both candidates had no opposition in their party primary elections in May.

Setser-Kissick, 54, was among the thousands of teachers who marched on the Capitol last spring to urge the legislature not to pass the pension bill.

The Johnson County native changed her party registration from Republican to Democrat about a year ago. She said she never had an interest in running for political office, that she was too busy as an educator.

But she said she felt her trust in some elected officials had been betrayed. She decided to run after persuasion from former KEA President David Allen.

Setser-Kissick had been an English teacher at her alma mater, Johnson Central High School, after graduating from the University of Kentucky with bacherlor’s degrees in English and journalism and a Master’s in secondary education.

After obtaining a Rank 1 with a Master’s degree in library science at UK, she became a librarian at Deep Springs Elementary in Lexington.

Since 2011, she has been a district technology resource teacher for the Fayette County school system and helps with professional development for teachers.

This year’s bid for the state Senate is her first run for public office. Her campaign slogan is “Let’s TEACH Frankfort how to LEAD!”

Kerr, the sister of 1995 Republican gubernatorial nominee Larry Forgy of Lexington, has a bachelor’s degree in music from Western Kentucky University and a Master’s in education from WKU. She is chair of the Senate Economic Development, Tourism and Labor Committee and a community volunteer, serving on the board for Kentucky Baptist Homes for Children.

The two candidates disagree on several major issues.

Setser-Kissick said she favors sports betting in Kentucky, but Kerr does not favor expansion of gambling in the state. On abortion, Setser-Kissick said no one likes abortion but a woman should be in charge of her body. Kerr said she has a “proven pro-life record.”

This story was originally published October 5, 2018 at 12:13 PM.