Father endorses son’s foe and other oddities in KY state Senate’s fall elections
Retiring state Sen. Julian Carroll is backing fellow Democrat Joe Graviss instead of his son in the race to replace him but the former governor is not revealing who will get his vote.
Several Senate Republican leaders face opposition in the Nov. 3 general election and some Eastern Kentucky voters will choose a replacement for a lawmaker who has been off-and-on in the state legislature for nearly a half-century.
In the Eastern Kentucky district that includes Pike County, freshman Sen. Phillip Wheeler hopes to keep the district Republican. It changed to the GOP stronghold in a special election last year for the first time in 50 years.
And in another Eastern Kentucky state Senate race, you can declare Turner the winner. The Democratic and Republican candidates have the same last name — and a very similar first name.
Republicans outnumber Democrats 28-10 in the Kentucky Senate, so Republicans will keep control of the chamber for at least another two years. Senate races this year are in odd-numbered districts for four-year terms.
Son runs as Independent for father’s seat
Democrat Joe Graviss enjoys the endorsement of fellow Democrat Julian Carroll in his bid to replace the retiring Carroll, a former governor, in the Kentucky Senate.
But it is not clear if Graviss will get Carroll’s vote in the Nov. 3 general election in Kentucky’s 7th Senate District, made up of Anderson, Franklin, Gallatin, Owen and Woodford counties.
Carroll, an 88-year-old Frankfort attorney, is mum on how he will vote in the race.
The reason: his son, Ken Carroll, is running in the race as an Independent. The Republican nominee is Adrienne E. Southworth, who was deputy chief of staff for former Lt. Gov. Jenean Hampton before a controversial firing by Gov. Matt Bevin’s administration of her and another Hampton staffer.
“I haven’t said who I will vote for,” the elder Carroll recently said. “I have endorsed Joe and I am a Democrat who traditionally votes straight Democratic ticket but I am in a tough position. I have a dear family member running for the Senate and I want to maintain good relationships with my family. I have to live with them after this race is over.”
Graviss, a former owner and operator of nine McDonald’s restaurants in Central Kentucky from Versailles, has been in the state House since 2019. He said he is glad he has the senior Carroll’s endorsement.
“That’s what counts,” he said.
Graviss said he considers the younger Carroll “a non-factor” in the race. “He’s definitely not a spoiler because he takes a few votes from Democrats and Republicans.”
Southworth, a graphic designer from Lawrenceburg, said she accepts Carroll “as just another candidate. I take whatever comes. He doesn’t change what I am trying to do and that is to win this race. It’s looking good and I think I’m going to win.”
Voter registration figures for the district show 53,172 Democrats, 34,769 Republicans and 3,900 other.
Ken Carroll, president and chief executive officer of Advanced Manufacturing Professionals, said his father endorsed Graviss “before I got into the race and my dad is a man of his word.” The younger Carroll registered as an Independent six years ago.
Asked if his father had told him whom he would vote for, Carroll laughed and said, “His vote is private like everyone else’s. A lot can happen in the voting booth. In my heart, I hope he votes for me.”
If he wins, Carroll said he intends to stay as an Independent the full four-year term but would caucus with Republicans.
“Of course, they would have to accept me but I am very conservative and could accomplish more by meeting with the majority party,” he said.
Graviss said Carroll “should have acted like a big boy and run as a Republican.”
Carroll is trailing his opponents in campaign funds.
The latest state campaign finance reports show Carroll with $5,325 in receipts, compared to $38,127 for Southworth and $153,107 for Graviss. Graviss has contributed about $107,000 to his campaign.
“I would not ask anyone to do something I wouldn’t do,” said Graviss.
Carroll wonders if Graviss is trying to buy the race and Southworth said she will have enough money to win the race.
In the Senate, Carroll said he wants to protect and grow state workers’ pensions. He also said he is not a gambler but thinks the state should “take a strong look” at expanded gambling and sports betting.
“We have not yet learned the full effect of COVID-19 on the state economy and we have to look at all our revenue opportunities,” Carroll said.
Graviss said he is drawing support from Republicans and Democrats. “People want a down-to-earth, common sense, collaborative senator,” he said. “My House constituents have seen how hard I work for them. I will perform the same way in the Senate.”
Southworth said the state budget always is the biggest issue in the legislature.
“From it comes what can be done and right now it is in turmoil and I will work hard on it,” she said.
Southworth said her appeal of her dismissal by the Bevin Administration is still pending before the state Personnel Board.
The Bevin Administration said Southworth reportedly demonstrated poor judgment. Hampton said the action against her was because she was investigating the governor’s authority to fire another Hampton staffer.
The action created a rift between Bevin and Lt. Gov. Hampton, who has held a fundraiser for Southworth’s Senate campaign.
Senate Republican leaders face challengers
Three key Republican leaders in the state Senate have opposition in the general election.
Senate President Pro Tem David Givens of Greensburg is facing Democrat Brian Pedigo in the 9th District that includes Allen, Barren, Green, Metcalfe, Monroe and Simpson counties.
Givens, elected in 2008, is managing partner of Central Farmers Supply. Pedigo, who is a store manager and forklift operator, ran unsuccessfully for the 2nd Congressional District in 2000 and 2018.
In Central Kentucky’s 17th Senate District that includes Scott, Grant and part of Kenton County, Senate Majority Leader Leader Damon Thayer of Georgetown is taking on Democrat Jason Stroude, a butcher and union member from Grant County.
The Senate budget chairman, Chris McDaniel of Taylor Mill, is facing Democrat Ryan Olexia, a Park Hills veterinarian and Army veteran, in a spirited race in the 23rd District that covers part of Kenton County.
Where have you gone, Albert Robinson?
Republican Albert Robinson of London 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. His 21st District includes Bath, Estill, Jackson, Laurel, Menifee and Powell counties.
But Robinson, who is self-employed, lost the June Republican primary election to London attorney Brandon Jackson Storm, 6,875 to 6,131 votes.
In the November election, Storm faces Democrat Walter Trebolo III, a London electrician and Army and Kentucky National Guard veteran.
Will this longtime ‘blue’ Eastern Kentucky district stay Republican?
For 50 years, Democrats held Eastern Kentucky’s 31st Senate district seat.
But in March 2019, Pikeville attorney Phillip Wheeler, a Republican, 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.
This fall, Wheeler faces attorney Glenn Martin Hammond of Pikeville.
Some Democrats see this as a bellwether district for the fall’s election. Democrats want to win back this seat that had been deep blue politically but they know Republican President Donald Trump and U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell are on the fall ballot.
Trump carrried Pike County with 80 percent of the vote over Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016.
In February, the Kentucky Democratic Party called on Wheeler to resign after he showed a crowd of voters a picture of Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear with a group of drag queens in the Capitol at a LGBTQ rally and said Beshear was “trying to convince our children this is the right way to live.”
The Democratic Party said Wheeler has a “history of bigoted attitudes,” referencing a Facebook post Wheeler made in January that quoted a racist term in reference to the governor of Virginia.
Wheeler said he would not resign and stood by his comments.
There’s something about a good name
In Eastern Kentucky’s 29th District that includes Floyd, Harlan, Knott and Letcher counties, Turner is a good bet to win the Senate race.
That’s because Democratic incumbent Johnny Ray Turner of Prestonsburg faces Republican Johnnie L. Turner, a Harlan attorney and former state representative.
The district is nearly 70 percent Democratic but Trump captured 78 percent of its vote four years ago.
This story was originally published October 20, 2020 at 10:25 AM.
