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NEWS AND VIEWS THAT IMPACT LIMITED CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT

"There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with
power to endanger the public liberty." - - - - John Adams

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

GOP Primary for Governor in Kentucky Too Close to Call



A Possible Conservative Win


(Associated Press)  -  Kentucky's volatile Republican primary for governor ended in a virtual tie Tuesday night as only a handful of votes separated Matt Bevin and James Comer.
Republicans Hal Heiner and Will T. Scott conceded early, and it appeared Bevin was headed to an improbable victory following his lopsided loss to U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell in last year's primary. But Comer surged ahead by a narrow margin following returns from the western part of the state, including large margins in Warren County, where Republican presidential candidate Rand Paul lives.
The Secretary of State's office was unsure how many ballots from the state's overseas voters, including soldiers, came in by the 6 p.m. deadline. The court ordered an extension on the deadline for another 11 days because of a problem with an outside vendor. But that extension applied only to 12 specific ballots.

There is no runoff election in Kentucky, and no automatic recounts. State law allows for re-canvassing only if a county clerk or a county board of elections notices a discrepancy or if a candidate makes a written request to the Secretary of State.
Comer said late Tuesday that he would ask for a recanvass, which is essentially a review of the vote totals in each county.
"We overcame so much money, we overcame the bad press with the newspapers in the state. We overcame a lot. And I owe it to our supporters to ask for a recanvass," Comer said.
Republican state Sen. Max Wise told a jubilant crowd at Comer's election night party that things looked "real good." Bevin supporters remained glued to the TV watching returns, alternating between cheers and sad faces as the last few hundred votes came in. Just before 7 p.m., Bevin thanked supporters for coming and said: "Hopefully it will be fun. We'll see."
None of the candidates have enjoyed the campaign, with Comer calling it "the dirtiest campaign that I've ever witnessed in Kentucky history." Comer spent the last two weeks fighting allegations from Marilyn Thomas, his former college girlfriend, that he emotionally and physically abused her while the two dated at Western Kentucky University more than two decades ago.
As Comer and Heiner fought, that left Bevin, with the $5 million and name recognition he earned form his failed U.S. Senate bid the year before, as the landing spot for disaffected Republican voters. He ran a TV ad with actors portraying Comer and Heiner sitting at a children's table throwing food at each other.
Whoever wins will have to unify a state Republican Party torn apart by the raucous primary. Heiner conceded around 8:40 p.m., as votes in the western part of the state were still being tallied and Bevin was ahead. Heiner told a sullen-faced crowd of his supporters in a reception hall at the Parklands of Floyds Fork that he called Bevin, congratulated him and pledged his support in the general election.
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