Lexington voters will decide two state House primaries. DUI charge an issue in one.
Republican voters this month in a Lexington state House district race will have to consider more than where the candidates stand on major issues. A drunken-driving charge is in play.
In another state House primary election in Fayette County, two Democrats are trying to become the party’s nominee in November to run against a Republican who is unopposed in the GOP primary. The candidates want to replace longtime Republican state Rep. Stan Lee, who decided not to seek re-election this year.
Here’s a look at the two state House primary elections this year in districts entirely within Fayette County. Election Day is June 23. Kentucky voters are being urged to vote by mailed-in absentee ballots during the coronavirus pandemic.
Should a DUI charge matter in 88th House District race?
Heavy news coverage in the 88th House District Republican primary election has focused on a DUI charge against Monteia Mundy, a 31-year-old attorney.
Mundy was arrested the night of April 25 in Madison County and charged with driving under the influence, leaving the scene of an accident and failing to wear a seat belt.
She later pleaded guilty to the DUI and the other two charges were dismissed. She said she had taken medication earlier that day, apologized, asked for forgiveness and is hoping that voters don’t discard her for what she said is her only run-in with the law in her life.
“I have received a lot of support and am thankful for that,” said Mundy. “Prior to this, I didn’t even have a speeding ticket. I made a mistake and people are telling me everyone makes mistakes. I am hopeful the voters will forgive me of that and focus on what I can offer for the district.”
Her opponent, Aaron Yates, 35, who runs a consulting company, said the DUI charge shows “a major flaw in her character.”
He has set up a website, www.monteiamundyexposed.com, that shows Mundy’s arrest photo and police reports of the incident. Yates’ campaign Facebook page also contains posts about the arrest.
Mundy said Yates is attacking her “because he’s desperate to curry favor with extremist out-of-state libertarians funding false attack ads and websites.”
The race took another turn June 11 when Alicia Huff, a Lexington Realtor who lives in the 88th District, filed a lawsuit in Fayette Circuit Court against Yates, claiming he should be disqualified for not meeting residency requirements.
Yates disputes the claim and contends Mundy is behind the suit. She says she is not. No court hearing had been scheduled as of Tuesday afternoon. The case could continue past Election Day.
Kentucky’s 88th House District lies in the southeastern part of Fayette County. It is now represented by Democrat Cherlynn Stevenson, a non-profit event planner. She is unopposed in the Democratic primary election. Registered Republicans hold a slight edge in the district — 20,976 Republicans to 20,090 Democrats.
Mundy and Yates, like most candidates during the coronavirus pandemic, have turned to social media to do the bulk of their campaigning. Knocking on doors in search of votes has become a no-no. They still are trying to reach voters through emails, phone calls and Google ads.
Both candidates, who are single, said they will have enough money to run the campaigns they want. Their campaign finance records were not yet posted as of Tuesday afternoon on the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance website.
Mundy, a native of Huntington, W.Va., moved to Lexington when she was 4. A graduate of Lexington Christian Academy, she has a bachelor’s degree in political science from Wake Forest and a law degree from Chase at Northern Kentucky University.
In 2018, Mundy lost a non-partisan bid for the 12th District Urban County Council seat, which mostly overlaps the 88th House District. She lives on a small farm near the Kentucky River and is general counsel for an industrial hemp processing facility.
Yates, a native of Lexington, graduated from Bryan Station High School and has a bachelor’s degree in political science from Eastern Kentucky University. He worked for U.S. Sen. Rand Paul’s successful campaign in 2010 and claims the support this year of U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie of Lewis County and state Rep. Savannah Maddox of Dry Ridge.
Making his first bid for public office, Yates is a co-founder and operations director for Rearden Strategic, a Denver-based consulting company that specializes in political consulting, lobbying, marketing and public relations. He also is a contractor for the National Association for Gun Rights.
Both Mundy and Yates oppose raising taxes and say they favor right-to-life positions.
On expanded gambling, Mundy said voters should get the chance to decide whether Kentucky wants casinos and sports betting. Yates said he is “not a big fan of expanded gambling but I’m willing to listen about it.”
Mundy said she is a loyal Republican who has served on two committees for the National Federation of Republican Women, is an executive committee member for the Fayette County Republican Party and is a former vice president of programming for Fayette County Republicans.
Mundy also questioned Yates’ role as a lobbyist in Colorado, saying he worked for groups that were racist and misused “dark money.” Dark money refers to political spending meant to influence the decision of a voter, where the donor is not disclosed and the source of the money is unknown.
“His work as a dark money powerbroker in Colorado destroyed the Republican Party in the state leading it to historic losses after the group he helps lead pushed racist diatribes calling immigrants ‘animals’ and promoted social media depicting Michelle Obama as an ape and transvestite,” she said.
Mundy said she got her information from an article last year in The Colorado Gazette in Colorado Springs and a 2018 article in The Colorado Times Recorder in Denver.
Yates said he was “taken aback” by Mundy’s comments. “There are a lot of full-lies and mischaracterizations” in them and there is “no evidence” he has ever done anything inappropriate in politics, Yates said.
“Clearly politics can get dirty, and I’m sure there are legitimate issues where people disagree with me, but this caricature painted by my opponent is baseless and disturbing,” he said.
Two Democrats in 45th House District race stress education
Since 2001, Lee, one of the most conservative members of the state House, has represented the 45th House District in southwestern Fayette County. It has 18,259 Democrats, compared to 18,143 Republicans.
Two Democratic candidates are vying in the party’s primary to run against Republican Killian Timoney in the November general election. Timoney is director of plant operations at Fayette County Public Schools.
Competing in the Democratic primary are Shirley Flynn Mitchell, a former civil engineering officer in the U.S. Navy and a digital customer experience manager at Valvoline, and Sean “Mike” Pickard, a Fayette County teacher. Both are making their first bid for public office.
Corey Nichols, an attorney, had filed for the Democratic primary but withdrew May 27 and threw his support to Mitchell.
Both Mitchell and Pickard say they would concentrate on education as a state lawmaker.
Mitchell, 51, was born in Lexington and is a graduate of Lafayette High School. She has a bachelor’s and master’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Kentucky and a master’s in project management from George Washington University.
A stint in the U.S. Navy as a civil engineer took her to Guam, Puerto Rico and Haiti. She worked at Lexmark for 20 years and has been at Valvoline the last two years. She also has been a manager for construction projects and a volunteer in several organizations. She is married and has three daughters.
Pickard, who turns 46 on June 5, is a product of Fayette County schools and has a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Kentucky and a master’s from Georgetown College. He has been a teacher for 21 years and is a behavioral interventionist at Clays Mill Elementary School and member of KY 120 United, a teachers’ advocacy group.
Both Mitchell and Pickard said they decided to enter the House race because of their concerns for teachers, especially after heated debates in recent years in the legislature over their pensions.
Both also say increasing taxes is not the right direction for the state, especially after so many workers have been hit hard by the economics of COVID-19.
Mitchell said the state should do a better job in seeking revenue growth from emerging technologies and keeping talented students in the state. She also said universities should play a bigger role in developing a revenue strategy for the state.
Pickard said he is looking more at increasing revenue through sports betting and medical marijuana.
Mitchell said she lived in Biloxi, Miss., and “saw our casinos take over the government. If you have casinos, you should define who owns them.”
On abortion, Pickard said he does not like abortion but “would find it difficult as a male to make that decision for a woman.”
Mitchell said abortion is divisive but “I want to bring real solutions that get to the reasons for why a woman is at this decision point and equip her with wisdom before, good counsel during, and a social safety net if she chooses to carry the child so both sides can work together to be like the states that have falling abortion numbers.”
