Democrats flip a state Senate seat for first time since 2010 & more election results
Kentucky Democrats were gleeful and optimistic Tuesday after flipping a state Senate seat in a district that President Trump won by more than 12 percentage points in 2016.
Democrat Karen Berg, a physician and assistant professor, beat Republican Bill Ferko, the former GOP chairman in Oldham County, in a special election in the 26th Senate District to fill the remainder of the term of Republican Sen. Ernie Harris, who retired this spring after 25 years in the Senate. His term runs through the end of 2021.
The district includes Oldham County and part of Jefferson County. Unofficial results showed Berg with 24,771 votes to 18,705 for Ferko. Berg won Jefferson County, 15,033 to 7,604, and Ferko took Oldham County, 11,101 to 9,738.
While Trump won the district big four years ago, Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear won it last year in a race against then-Republican incumbent Matt Bevin.
Kentucky Democratic Party Chairman Ben Self said Berg’s victory marks the first time a Democrat has flipped a GOP state Senate seat since 2010.
“Dr. Berg’s victory is a clear sign that Kentucky voters are tired of the divisiveness of the Republican Party of Kentucky. There has been no better time for Kentuckians to choose a doctor to send to Frankfort,” Self said. “Suburban, urban and rural voters are ready for leaders in Frankfort who want to help Gov. Beshear address Kentucky’s challenges. “
Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee President Jessica Post said Berg’s win “sends a message to Republicans that Democrats are energized and ready to win all across the country this year — even in Mitch McConnell’s backyard.”
The other state legislative races Tuesday featured parties’ selecting their nominees for the Nov. 3 general election.
Here’s what happened in several key races:
Staffer for former Lt. Gov. Hampton wins
With the retirement of former Democratic Gov. Julian Carroll after 15 years in the Senate, five Republicans stepped forward in the Senate’s 7th District in Central Kentucky to run in the GOP primary. They were fighting to earn the right to face Democrat Joe Graviss of Frankfort in November’s general election.
In unofficial results Tuesday, Adrienne E. Southworth of Lawrenceburg held the lead in the GOP primary. She was deputy chief of staff for Lt. Gov. Jenean Hampton before a controversial firing by Gov. Bevin.
Other candidates were Cleaver Kirk Crawford of Lawrenceburg, who works in customer service; business executive Katie Howard of Lawrenceburg; certified real estate appraiser Calen Studler of Frankfort; and salon owner Linda Thompson of Frankfort, who is president of Franklin County Republican Women.
Veteran Senate incumbent comes up short
Unoffiicial results from the State Board of Elections Tuesday showed veteran Republican Sen. Albert Robinson of London on the ropes.
Robinson trailed attorney Brandon Jackson Storm, also of London. Storm had 6,683 votes to Robinson’s 5,676. Kay Hensley, a farmer and attorney, had 4,481 votes.
Robinson, who is self-employed, has accumulated many years in the state legislature — in the House from 1972-1984 and 1987-1988 and in the Senate from 1994-2004 and 2013 to the present. The 21st District includes Bath, Estill, Jackson, Laurel, Menifee and Powell counties.
The only other Senate incumbent with opposition, Republican Rick Girdler of Somerset, won easily over Larry Sears Nichols, a Methodist evangelist of Eubank. Girdler represents the 15th District of Pulaski, Boyle and Lincoln counties
Neither the 15th nor 21st district has a Democratic candidate.
Democrat selected to take on freshman GOP senator
In March 2019, Pikeville attorney Phillip Wheeler gained for Republicans an Eastern Kentucky Senate seat that Democrats held for 50 years.
Wheeler won a special election by slightly more than 500 votes to replace Democrat Ray Jones, who left the Senate after 18 years to become Pike County’s judge-executive.
The Democrat selected Tuesday to take on Wheeler in November in the 31st Senate District is attorney Glenn Martin Hammond of Pikeville. He defeated former teacher and community and economic development advocate Scott Sykes of Elkhorn City. The district includes Pike, Elliott, Martin, Morgan and Lawrence counties.
Jefferson County picks Democrat to replace veteran senator
David Yates, an attorney and member of the Louisville City Council, emerged from a field of four candidates in the Democratic primary election to replace Democrat Perry Clark, who did not seek re-election for the 37th Senate District seat in southern Jefferson County.
Clark has been in the state legislature since 1995 — 11 years in the House and the last 15 in the Senate.
Since no Republicans or other candidates filed for the seat, the winner of the Democratic primary will become the next senator.
Former lawmaker guilty of extortion wins
Republican Tom O’Dell Smith, a former state representative from Knox County who went to prison on federal extortion charges, is going back to the state House.
Smith, a businessman, won the GOP primary Tuesday over three other candidates for the 86th House District in Eastern Kentucky.
Smith was first elected to the seat in 1990 but became the target of an FBI investigation his first term in office.
He won re-election while under indictment, but resigned after being convicted in March 1993 of two charges that he took $10,000 to get early parole and lenient treatment for a convicted drug dealer.
Smith testified at his 1993 trial that he misled the drug dealer and his wife about his ability to help them because he saw them as a source of campaign money for other candidates.
Smith argued the FBI entrapped him and that he didn’t set out to commit a crime, though a federal prosecutor argued Smith knowingly abused his office for money
The jury convicted Smith, then 34, on two charges of extortion. It acquitted him on a third extortion charge and a charge of obstructing justice. An appeals court upheld his conviction and 27-month prison sentence.
The 86th District includes all of Knox County and part of Laurel County. Rep. Jim Stewart III has represented the district since 1997, but did not seek re-election. No Democrat filed for the race.
Two House GOP leaders win
House Speaker David Osborne of Prospect, who has been a member of the House since 2005 and is involved in farming and real estate, easily won his primary election and has no opposition in November.
House Majority Whip Chad McCoy of Nelson County, an attorney who has been in the House since 2017, preserved his seat in the GOP primary election against Don Thrasher of Coxs Creek, chairman of the Nelson County Republican Party, in unofficial results Tuesday afternoon.
Burch’s longevity in the House lengthens
Democrat Tom Burch, 88, survived a challenge from Daniel Grossberg in Jefferson County’s 30th District.
Burch has been a member of the state House for 47 years, starting in 1972 and missing only one two-year term from 1976 to 1977. This year will mark his 24th bid for the state House.
Burch will represent the district for the next two years. No Republican or candidate from any other party filed to run.
Jessamine County will get a new representative
Democrat Russ Meyer of Nicholasville decided not to seek re-election this year to the 39th District, which includes the bulk of Jessamine and part of Fayette counties.
Two Republicans and one Democrat filed for the seat. All are from Nicholasville.
In the GOP primary, Tuesday’s unofficial results showed Matt Lockett, a financial advisor and chair of the Jessamine County Republican Party, over Jay Corman, board chairman for RJC Railroad Group, which his late father R.J. Corman founded. Lockett got 3,143 votes to Corman’s 2,108.
The winner will go against Carolyn Dupont in the November general election. She is an educator at Eastern Kentucky University.
Two GOP House incumbents lose in unofficial results
R. Travis Brenda of Crab Orchard and Les Yates of Winchester, both Republican freshman legislators, lost their primary elections Tuesday, according to unofficial results.
In the 71st District that includes Garrard, Rockcastle and parts of Madison counties, Brenda, a teacher, was narrowly losing to Josh Bray, Mount Vernon’s city administrator: 4,107 for Bray, 4,077 for Brenda.
Brenda narrowly defeated then-House Majority Leader Jonathan Shell in 2018 to represent the district. Shell, a farmer, is campaign chair for U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s re-election effort. He said he was not involved in the primary race for the House seat.
Yates, in the 73rd District that includes Clark and Madison counties, lost to his GOP opponent, Ryan Dotson of Winchester. The unofficial tallies had Yates with 2,228 votes and Dotson with 2,356.
The winner will go up against Democrat Kenny Blair of Winchester, who won Tuesday’s primary over Rory Houlihan.
Field set for Central Kentucky House race
With Democrat Joe Graviss of Versailles leaving the House after one term to run for the state Senate, the open seat in the 56th District attracted two Democrats in the primary and one Republican waiting for the winner in November.
The Democratic nominee is Lamar Allen of Lexington, a STEM (science, technology, engineering and math ) educator at Yates Elementary. He turned back Bob Gibson of Versailles in the party primary.
The Republican nominee is Dan Fister of Versailles. He is a farmer, property manager and retired general contractor.
The district covers Woodford and parts of Franklin and Fayette counties.
Other House races of interest
▪ Republican Josh Branscum of Russell Springs will replace Jeff Hoover of Russell Springs in the state House from the 83rd District. Hoover, a former speaker of the House, did not seek re-election.
Branscum defeated Mark Polston of Somerset in Tuesday’s GOP primary. He has no opposition in November.
Branscum is executive vice president of Branscum Construction Co. He was chair of the Kentucky State Board of Elections in 2018. His family has been a major contributor to the Republican Party.
▪ Democratic incumbent Nima Kulkarni ousted Democrat Dennis Horlander out of the House two years and overcame a repeat challenge by him Tuesday in Jefferson County’s 40th District. She has no opponent in the fall.
▪ Democrat Pamela Stevenson of Louisville will join Democrat Rep. Attica Scott of Louisville as the second Black woman serving in the House. Stevenson won the 43rd House seat that Democrat Charles Booker did not seek again so he could run for the U.S. Senate.
▪ Former Democratic U.S. Rep. Carroll Hubbard of Mayfield, who changed his party registration to Republican, got trounced by incumbent Steven Rudy of Paducah in the 1st District House race in Western Kentucky. Rudy got about 86 percent of the vote to Hubbard’s 14 percent.
This story was originally published June 30, 2020 at 5:50 PM.
