Bevin gets backlash on tolling stance. Will it change votes in Northern Kentucky?
Attorney General Andy Beshear was laughed at by the audience during a debate in Northern Kentucky Tuesday night when he refused to say whether he supports putting a toll on a new Brent Spence Bridge.
“I believe that the people of Northern Kentucky and not this governor should get to determine the manner in which this bridge is funded,” Beshear said.
But it wasn’t his answer that caused a stir in Northern Kentucky. Instead, it was the answer of Gov. Matt Bevin, who made clear his position from 2015 has changed and that tolling will be necessary on the massive bridge replacement project.
“There is no way around having some type of tolling on a bridge of this size,” the governor said.
It wasn’t the first time Bevin had said he supports tolling. He had made similar comments to business groups in Northern Kentucky after a study he commissioned said tolling was necessary, but his televised comment Tuesday stoked a hot political fire in the region.
“It’s a big deal for a very small subset of people,” said Rep. Adam Koenig, R-Erlanger. “If you work in Cincinnati, you don’t typically want to pay for that privilege.”
After hearing the governor supported tolls, a former Covington City Council member, Steven Frank, said on Facebook that he wouldn’t be able to vote for Bevin. Later, Eric Deters, a notorious figure in Northern Kentucky who is a Trump supporter, said he couldn’t support Bevin in part because of the governor’s answer on tolling.
The mayor of Covington, Democrat Joseph Meyer, even went so far as to pen an op-ed about the issue. In it, he said a broad coalition of people, from “Teamsters to Tea Partiers” oppose tolling because it would cause diversion through the city of Covington and place Northern Kentucky at an economic disadvantage.
“Tolls divide the region into winners and losers. They separate us; they don’t unite us,” Meyer wrote. “Tuesday night, Governor Bevin turned his back on all of us. It’s disappointing, and we deserve better.”
Several prominent Republicans from the region, though, said they don’t think Bevin’s comment will cost him many votes.
“I don’t know that it really will,” said former Secretary of State Trey Grayson. “It’s been a quiet issue for the past several years. I don’t know that it’s at the top of the radar screen right now, plus it’s last minute.”
Proving Grayson’s point, Frank, the former city councilman, announced on Facebook Tuesday that he had reconsidered his stance against Bevin.
“So what I’m going to say on more considered reflection is that I’m looking forward to seeing Governor Bevin being reelected and then kicking his ass on tolls just like I did Daddy Beshear,” Frank said.
Putting toll booths on a new Brent Spence Bridge has been a toxic issue in Northern Kentucky for several years. Most of the Northern Kentucky delegation in the legislature is against tolling on the hypothetical bridge, including Senate Majority Floor Leader Damon Thayer, R-Georgetown.
Thayer said Bevin’s position on tolls won’t affect the race.
“The defining issues in Northern Kentucky are pro-life, pro-second amendment and the economy,” Thayer said. “Northern Kentucky is like a second home for Governor Bevin and I think it will vote for him Tuesday.”
The Kentucky legislature has already voted to ban tolling on the bridge, but Ohio has indicated it will pay for its portion of the bridge with a toll, according to Koenig, putting the state in a difficult position. Koenig said Bevin’s willingness to support tolls may be the thing necessary to get the bridge replaced.
“It probably takes someone like the governor to stand in front of the would-be firing line,” Koenig said.
