House Democratic leaders dumped a controversial consultant. One lawmaker didn’t.
Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives said in February they would cut ties with Jonathan Hurst, a controversial Kentucky campaign consultant, after Gov. Andy Beshear declared he wouldn’t help candidates who used Hurst. At least one lawmaker didn’t care.
Rep. Lisa Willner, D-Louisville, is running unopposed in 2020, yet she paid Hurst Consulting $6,425 for mailing calendar magnets on May 26, according to a campaign finance report filed with the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance. The report was filed June 10.
Willner did not immediately return a phone call or email Thursday requesting comment.
Hurst served as the key witness in the federal trial against former Kentucky Democratic Party chairman Jerry Lundergan. His testimony that Lundergan paid him $20,000 in cash and a $25,000 check with the subject line “boy scouts” contributed to Lundergan being found guilty of illegally donating to his daughter Alison Lundergan Grimes’ 2014 U.S. Senate campaign. Lundergan has yet to be sentenced.
Willner’s continued use of Hurst as a consultant comes more than 10 months after Hurst’s testimony — where he was granted federal immunity for serving as a witness — and just months after an ultimatum from Beshear for Democrats to stop using Hurst as a consultant rocked the Kentucky House Democratic Caucus. Beshear said he would not campaign, or raise money for, candidates who used Hurst as a consultant.
“As Kentucky’s former attorney general and top prosecutor and now governor, I draw strong ethical lines and I believe they are the right lines,” Beshear said at the time.
After Beshear’s ultimatum, House Minority Leader Joni Jenkins, D-Shively — who has been friends with Hurst for years and paid Hurst Consulting at least $105,118 since 2000 — said she wouldn’t tell her caucus which consultants they could use.
Her response caused tense caucus meetings within the House Democratic Party, where some members struggled to understand Jenkins’ loyalty to a consultant that could make the members politically vulnerable. Earlier in the year, Jenkins and Graham had met with the Kentucky Democratic Party in attempts to make Hurst the political director of the House Democratic Caucus. The plan did not go through.
Almost a week later, House Democrats put out a statement saying caucus leaders would sever ties with Hurst.
“The Kentucky House Democratic Caucus leadership has severed ties with political consultant Johnathan Hurst,” the statement said. They did not say whether members should cut ties with Hurst.
Neither Jenkins, Graham nor House Minority Whip Angie Hatton, D-Whitesburg, reported using Hurst in the 2020 primary. Hatton has never used Hurst as a consultant.
Jenkins spent $1,975 on Hurst Consulting for invitations to her annual breakfast on January 1, before she said she would cut ties with Hurst. Jenkins said she has not spoken to Hurst since December.
“I don’t tell my members who to use as consultants,” Jenkins said Thursday.
The next campaign finance filing deadline isn’t until July 27, when candidates will have to report their disbursements through the June 23 primary Election Day.
Jenkins said she did not believe members of the House Democratic Caucus were confused or alarmed.
“I think the House caucus membership is focused on COVID,” Jenkins said.
This story was originally published July 2, 2020 at 10:23 AM.
