Here are the candidates' positions on several issues

This post may be updated with summaries of other issues.

ECONOMY
     Democrat Jack Conway and Republican Matt Bevin's economic positions adhere in large part to party orthodoxies. Bevin plans to make the Bluegrass more competitive by passing "right to work" legislation, which would outlaw labor contracts that require workers to pay union dues or fees. Conway's plan to bring more jobs to Kentucky primarily focuses on education. He plans to align job-training programs to the needs of employers and plans to work with schools to improve graduation rates. Conway wants an increase in the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour. Bevin opposes that idea, and his running mate, Jenean Hampton, said an increase to minimum wage would be "disastrous." Independent Drew Curtis favors the increase and says he will look at policies in other states and bring the successful ones to Kentucky, hoping to bring a "tech boom" to the Bluegrass by focusing on technology training. –Ben Johnson

EDUCATION

     Republican Matt Bevin says Kentucky needs to back out of the nationally adopted State Common Core Standards because they “doesn’t adequately address the diverse needs” of the state. Bevin also wants to guarantee school choice, including charter schools and tax credits for private education, and has said families who home-school their children should have access to the same public amenities provided to kids who attend state-funded schools. He favors outcomes-based funding for higher education, with emphasis on producing degrees that will help the economy.

     Democrat Jack Conway wants to expand early childhood education, first to 3- and 4-year-olds in homes with incomes up to 138 percent of the poverty level, with a goal of 200 percent. He supports Common Core and opposes charter schools and tax credits for private education. He says he would look at outcomes-based funding but wants to maintain a level playing field for universities.

     Independent Drew Curtis wants to expand early-college programs in high schools and says a budget cut to education is one of the last things he would recommend. However, he also says solving Kentucky’s pension problem is one of his first priorities, so education funding issues would have to wait at least a year. –Kevin Erpenbeck

DRUGS

     Drug abuse is a growing problem for Kentucky, which has the nation’s third highest death rate from drug overdoses.  The number of heroin overdoses has tripled in the last three years alone. There are limited treatment options available, with only one-tenth of the treatment beds needed. Here is how the three candidates for governor say they will deal with that problem:

     Democrat Jack Conway notes his history of fighting drugs as attorney general. He supports the local-option needle exchange program and calls for more education and treatment but has yet to provide a solution on how he will pay for that. He opposes legalizing marijuana for medical purposes and says people on Medicaid should be tested for drugs only with probable cause.

     Republican Matt Bevin says he would randomly drug-test Medicaid recipients but otherwise has talked less about the state’s drug abuse crisis than Conway. He says the key is intervening earlier and creating better economic opportunity. He says the state spends too little on behavioral health and supports legalizing marijuana for medical purposes.

     Independent candidate Drew Curtis supports decriminalizing addiction. He suggests copying Massachusetts’ program on tackling opiate addiction if it proves successful. –Megan Ingros

GAMBLING

     Expanded gambling, an issue that could have an impact on the state’s economy budget, is viewed with differently by all three candidates but isn’t a strong point of focus for any of them.

     Democrat Jack Conway favors a referendum on the issue and says the time could be right for it, to create revenue for the horse racing industry, pensions and early childhood education, since bond-rating agencies have said the state needs a dedicated revenue stream to shore up its pensions.

     Republican Matt Bevin stands on the opposite end of the spectrum. During an Oct. 6 debate, he rejected gambling as a possible solution to any of Kentucky’s problems. “I don’t think it’s the solution to what ails us financially in this state,” he said.

     Independent candidate Drew Curtis stands right in the middle. While not much more enthralled by the idea of expanded gambling than Bevin, he hasn’t been willing to completely dismiss it just yet. “Our pension system is in dire shape, so we must consider all options,” Curtis told WFPL Radio. –Jerry Seale

HEALTH CARE AND INSURANCE

     In regard to Medicaid, the federal-and-state-funded health insurance for lower-income people, Democrat Jack Conway wants to stay where we are right now and Republican Matt Bevin does not.

     Conway wants to keep the Kynect health-insurance marketplace and the expansion of Medicaid to people with incomes up to 138 percent of the federal poverty line, saying he believes the state-funded study that shows the expansion is paying for itself by adding so many people to the health-care system that enough jobs and tax revenue will be created to cover the state’s cost – starting at 5 percent in 2017 and rising to the federal health reform law’s limit of 10 percent in 2020.

     Bevin scoffs at the study, saying the expansion is unsustainable, and says he would apply for a federal waiver to change it to a program in which some people pay premiums, co-payments, deductibles or health savings accounts. He also wants to use the federal exchange and abolish Kynect, which is funded by a 1 percent fee on all health-insurance policies sold in the state. The federal exchange charges 3.5 percent on policies it sells.

     Independent candidate Drew Curtis is against abolishing Kynect and wants to stand and watch what happens with the Medicaid expansion. He says it seems likely to pay for itself in the near term. –Lauren Allen

SMOKING BAN
     Democrat Jack Conway favors a statewide ban on smoking in public places. Republican Matt Bevin says local communities should decide the issue for themselves. Independent candidate Drew Curtis favors a ban that exempts cigar bars and other establishments related to smoking. –Al Cross

TAXES
     Republican Matt Bevin calls for comprehensive tax reform that includes reduced income-tax rates on businesses and individuals and repeal of inheritance and inventory taxes.
     Democrat Jack Conway endorses bipartisan tax reform that would not increase overall revenue. He has called for ending the inventory tax.
     Independent Drew Curtis wants to change income-tax brackets to percentages of income, not dollar amounts, to adjust to inflation, and supports "an across-the-board reduction in exemptions, with the goal to elimimnate as many as possible over the next decade." –Al Cross 

Viewers not excited by debate, but some are slightly swayed each way; some give Bevin edge over Conway

By Kevin Erpenbeck, Megan Ingros, Ben Johnson and Jerry Seale
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Telecommunications

The major-party candidates for Kentucky governor had a good debate Tuesday night, but didn’t prompt major changes in voters’ opinions, according to interviews of likely voters around the state. 

“The contestants are not exactly fireballs,” quipped Iva Frank, a 68-year-old AT&T retiree from Crestwood. “But I’m still not changing my vote.”

Frank, a supporter of Democratic Attorney General Jack Conway, said she learned nothing new from the debate and even went so far as labeling it as “dull and boring.”

That appeared to be a common feeling among the 10 people interviewed, who were selected from the participants in the most recent Bluegrass State poll of likely voters who said they were willing to grant follow-up interviews.

“I heard the same old he-said, she-said lies,” said Carson Godbey, 56, an undecided Republican from Russell Springs, said. “They never come across with actual issues. They just blame each other.”

However, the debate between Conway and Republican Matt Bevin at Centre College in Danville did changed some opinions.

Ben Marks, 81, a south Louisville retiree, was also undecided before the debate, but said he is now going to vote for Conway.

“I think it was pretty well even tonight, both were doing the same thing, making statements,” said Marks, who worked at the old Naval Ordnance Station.

Marks, who told the poll that he leans Democratic, said in the interview that he disagreed with Bevin’s positions on several issues, including a “right to work” law, same-sex marriage and the economy.

“Bevin was talking like he could straighten out our financial problems and things in ways that I don’t think will work,” Marks said.

But Bevin, a Louisville businessman, did gain some approval from Democrat Devina Witt of Corbin during the debate sponsored by WAVE-TV, AARP and Centre College.

Witt, 57, was leaning toward Conway heading into the debate but said afterward that she is on the fence and “could easily swing to Bevin.” She said he won the debate.

In particular, Witt disliked that Conway trumpeted shutting down pain clinics that let people abuse prescription drugs without mentioning that the crackdown has led – in her opinion – to an epidemic of heroin overdoses.

Witt also disapproved of Conway’s stance on Kim Davis, the Rowan County clerk who refused to issue marriage licenses after the Supreme Court’s decision to legalize same-sex marriage. She said Davis’ religious rights were infringed.

However, Witt said she was unhappy that Bevin refuses to release his tax returns: “Why not bring them out and show them?”

The proposed right-to-work law, which would prohibit employees from being forced to pay union dues, also caught some viewers’ attention. Take Leona Starks, a 55-year-old cook from western Louisville, who is a supporter of Conway.

“Jack really impressed me stating the federal law and what it really is, and it impressed me that he stood his ground,” Starks said.

However, despite her political leanings, Starks said she thought Bevin won the debate.

“I’m still for Conway,” Starks said. “He was less on point for me, but I know the points he meant to say. But he just wasn’t there tonight.”

Thomas Hunt, 19, a church volunteer in Winchester and a firm Bevin supporter, also thought his candidate won the debate.

“Jack Conway had the guilty smile all night like he knew he was wrong,” Hunt said.

He added that Bevin separated himself in the debate because Conway’s desire to raise the minimum wage will make Kentucky’s small business problem worse. Hunt said he wasn’t worried about Bevin’s unwillingness to release his tax returns.

Strong Republican Gregg Turner, 68, of Louisville, said he thought both candidates did well. The retired property maintenance man added that he liked what Conway had to say about his plans for education and the economy, but he still strongly supports Bevin.

“He handled himself well up there today and what he had to say was interesting,” Turner said of Conway. “But Bevin is a more savvy guy with a lot more structured plans.”

Despite a contentious exchange between the candidates about arming teachers to deal with school shootings, none of the 10 people interviewed said that issue would have an impact on how they vote.

Mike Abbott, a 64-year-old retired truck driver from Annville, said he was originally for independent candidate Drew Curtis -- who was not invited to participate in the debate -- but is now leaning toward Conway

Abbott, a Teamster who said he leans Republican but thinks the party “is not what it used to be,” said he didn’t approve of Bevin’s opposition to raising the minimum wage.

“What good is a job if people starve to death?” he asked. “Anyone who works should be able to earn a real living.”

And like most of the people who were interviewed, he didn’t think any candidate won the debate.

“Both guys are probably top-of-the-line good people,” he said. “It’s just a matter of differences of opinions.”

The writers are students in an advanced journalism course at the University of Kentucky, Covering the Governor's Race, taught by John Winn Miller and Al Cross. Thanks to the sponsors of the Bluegrass Poll (The Courier-Journal, the Lexington Herald-Leader, WHAS-TV and WKYT-TV) for making the poll respondents available for interviews.

As Bevin and Conway debate Medicaid, taxes and truth, Curtis gets the limelight

By Jerry Seale, Kevin Erpenbeck and Ben Johnson

University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Telecommunications

              

With seven weeks to the election, all eyes were initially on Democrat Jack Conway and Republican Matt Bevin during the gubernatorial debate in Louisville Tuesday night -- but independent candidate Drew Curtis may have stolen the show.

In a debate that covered a wide range of issues, Curtis got off to a quick start separating himself from the other bickering candidates with jokes and a sharp focus on how he would fix the state’s problems.

Conway criticized Bevin for his stance on Medicaid that he says would kick half-a-million people off Medicaid, the federal-state program to provide health care for the poor.

Bevin, who backed off that stand in late July, said Tuesday night that he would apply for a federal waiver that would let Kentucky customize Medicaid to save money.

Curtis said he is in favor of keeping the Medicaid expansion as it is, citing a state study that it will pay for itself by adding health-care jobs.

When Conway chided businessman Bevin for not releasing his tax returns -- insinuating Bevin has something to hide, Bevin called his claims a “smoke screen.” He said voters should “pay attention to what really happens, not what comes out of Conway’s mouth.”

When Conway claimed Bevin said Kentucky should “let the road funds go to zero and audit it for the last 10 years,” Bevin hotly denied it.

“So much of what comes out of your mouth, Jack, is absolutely made up,” Bevin replied. “I’ve never once called for letting anything go to zero and auditing it. You literally just make lies up on the fly.”

The Conway campaign did not respond to requests for documentation of the claim.

Another contentious exchange was over the jailing of Rowan County Kim Davis for ignoring a federal court order to issue marriage licenses after the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage.

Bevin said that trampled Davis’s freedom of religion, and Gov. Steve Beshear could have avoided the controversy with an executive order.

Conway, who is the state’s attorney general and has said Beshear does not have the power, said he sympathized with Davis but she needed to follow federal court orders.

Once again Curtis, standing between the other two men at Bellarmine University lecterns, drew laughter with his response.

“I think you all are both wrong,” he said. “It is the job of the executive to back up even the laws they don’t like.”

The three also differed significantly on how to deal with the economy, particularly in Eastern Kentucky.

“We need a governor who can take a look forward and anticipate problems before they actually occur,” Curtis said. “I don’t think we currently have that, no offense to these guys here. I don’t think it’s been done in American politics before. That is the thing I’m looking to change.”

Bevin said the problem isn’t just in Eastern Kentucky, but the whole state. “If there’s a hole in the boat, all our feet are going to get wet.” he said.

Conway endorsed the Shaping Our Appalachian Region initiative of Beshear and 5th District U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers.

On education funding, Conway said it would be a top priority, but Curtis said he couldn’t address that issue until the state’s pension problems are fixed and its finances are in better shape. He predicted twice that a recession is coming.

Bevin did not address elementary and secondary education, but said higher education needed to be better stewards of state funds and do more to prepare people for jobs.

That answer was a theme for many of Bevin’s answers in the debate.

The candidates had different opinions on how to shore state pension plans, which are the second most underfunded in the nation.

Conway said the problem is starting to take care of itself and will take some time for the full effects to be seen. To the contrary, Bevin said, the state is only “digging deeper and deeper into the hole,” and that major change will be needed.

Curtis has proposed his own plan, which would involve a line of credit, which could be tapped into when needed and paid back when times were better. Bevin criticized this plan, and said officials in Frankfort should not be trusted with such a system.

Conway was asked how he would fund the early-childhood education plan he proposed this month. He cited his record in office, saying he has returned over $300 million to the treasury, as assurance that he can find the money. Bevin and Curtis were skeptical.

Conway also pointed to his work against drug abuse and said he would put a plan in place to bring more treatment and drug education to Kentucky.

Curtis endorsed a statewide needle exchange program but Conway only backed the current local option, and Bevin did not provide a clear answer to the question.

The candidates found a rare moment of agreement on expunging the records and restoring voting rights for non-violent drug offenders who have served their time.

Major-party nominees leave independent Drew Curtis plenty of room to run in their first debate

By Matthew Young
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Telecommunications

When you are polling at only 8 percent, you can afford to take some risks. This is the position in which independent candidate Drew Curtis entered Tuesday night’s gubernatorial debate, the first among the three candidates.

Being the long-shot provided Curtis insulation from attacks by Republican Matt Bevin and Democrat Jack Conway. When candidates were given time to ask each other questions, neither of the two major party candidates directed theirs toward Curtis, leaving him free to state his case largely unchallenged. Happy to let Conway and Bevin take shots at the other, Curtis also provided comedic relief.

The political circus surrounding Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis, whose refusal to issue marriage licenses following the Supreme Court decision legalizing gay marriage landed her in jail for five days, provided Curtis with his first of many memorable lines.

Drew Curtis

“I think you’re both wrong,” Curtis told his foes to an uproar of laughter. Bevin had reiterated his view that Conway and Gov. Steve Beshear should provide some accommodation for Davis’s religious freedom – a step they say they have no power to do.

Curtis said, “As the executive you have an oath to uphold the laws of your land ... When the rule of law is not upheld society falls apart at the seams.”

When Conway asked Bevin why he had not released his tax returns, Bevin dodged the question, complaining that this was only a distraction from issues unfavorable to Conway.

Curtis again cut the tension with a joke: “So, I’ll actually answer this question.” Curtis had to wait a few seconds for the laughter in the room to subside before saying he will also release his tax returns, and offered anyone a tour of his house to prove his transparency.

When Curtis was asked about the state’s underfunded pensions, he had another line ready for Bevin: “You know you have been trying to ignore me, and I appreciate that.”

Curtis then asked for specific math on how Bevin’s proposed pension plan would work. When Bevin again sidestepped a specific answer Curtis used humor to display his displeasure. “On a math base the money is not there. [We] can’t convert everyone to a 401k plan right now and we cannot start putting new hires into it because the revenue bankrupts the system a good year earlier; and I’ll make a spreadsheet and send it to you.”

To fix the pension system, which is underfunded by over $9 billion, Curtis would create a line of credit for the state by issuing $5 billion in bonds. During years when annual return on the invested pension funds is lower the credit line could be tapped to fund the pension fund at 100 percent. During years when the return is high the accrual could be used to pay down the line of credit.

Bevin’s plan is to move all newly hired employees into a new 401(k) system of defined contributions – a type of savings where the employee and the state make contributions.

Perhaps Curtis’ most memorable line of the night came in response to a question about why he chose his wife Heather as his running mate, given the history of governors and lieutenant governors not getting along even after running together as they have since the early 1990s.

“I’ve been surprised by the number of people who think that it's a strange thing. I'm really starting to question all the rest of your marriages,” Curtis said.

He explained that while his strength is strategy, his wife’s is operations, pointing to the success of Fark.com, which she has run for years.

When he wasn’t lightening the occasion with his wit, Curtis used the stage to make voters more familiar with his positions, which include:

●            Using data analytics to make state government more efficient

●            Support for a statewide needle exchange program

●            Bringing broadband networks to all corners of Kentucky

●            Addressing mental health issues to keep guns away from mentally unstable, and

●            Restoring voting rights to 180,000 non-violent released convicts.

At the end of the night each candidate got what they wanted from the debate, said Bill Stone, former Jefferson County Republican Party chairman. Curtis benefited from his exposure to the spotlight, which has been hard for him to find as the independent.

Democrats seeking lesser offices attack Bevin while their Republican opponents attack Obama and Conway

FANCY FARM, Ky. – The focus of the political speaking at the Fancy Farm Picnic is on those holding or seeking top-ranking offices, but is also a valuable opportunity for other statewide candidates to connect with the politically minded crowd and a statewide television audience. Cheyene Miller of the University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Telecommunications wrote this account of their speeches, in the order they were given Saturday.

Lieutenant Governor

Like her running mate, Jack Conway, state House Democratic Caucus Chair Sannie Overly of Paris focused on criticizing Republican gubernatorial candidate Matt Bevin.  She did not mention her opponent, Jenean Hampton of Bowling Green.

Overly began by saying that at the picnic, the “line for the barbecue is as long as Matt Bevin’s nose,” and said he wants to keep Kentucky workers at the current minimum wage.

She talked about being raised in Bourbon County with Kentucky values, which she says Bevin lacks. Sounding a refrain used by other Democrats, she said, “Matt Bevin isn’t from Kentucky, he’s wrong for Kentucky, and he’s lied to Kentucky.”

Overly said she had never seen anything like the Republican primary, which “had three very qualified Kentucky candidates with long histories in their community, and they went with Matt Bevin.”

Hampton made history by becoming the first black woman to speak on the stage at Fancy Farm, which she immediately referenced.

“I know for some of you I’m an anomaly, I know I’m something you haven’t seen, I’m a black conservative,” said Hampton, asking the crowd to judge her by her character and qualifications.

Like her running mate, Hampton avoided attacks and counterattacks. She spoke about her service in the Air Force and growing up in Detroit saying she “rose from the wreckage of the inner city by rejecting voices that said I was a victim.”

Hampton said that success can often depend on someone saying “you’re better than this,” and that applies to Kentucky.

Agriculture Commissioner

Democrats continued to make things personal, as agriculture-commissioner candidate Jean Marie Lawson Spann said Republican opponent Ryan Quarles has said he has six college degrees and quoted one of her friends as saying “This fella has spent so much time getting degrees that he doesn’t know what he doesn’t know.”

Spann called herself a proud product of public education in Kentucky, and cited her experience growing up in a farm family as one of her qualifications for the job.

Quarles implied that his opponent’s farm credentials are suspect. “Kentucky deserves a commissioner with a real farm background,” he said.

Quarles recounted his experience growing up on a farm, doing everything from working with tobacco and livestock to shoveling cow manure, a job which he says “prepared me well for Frankfort politics.”

Promising to stand up to “Obama liberals both in Washington (D.C.) and in Frankfort,” Quarles said the choice is between someone who voted for the president and someone who didn’t.

Attorney General

Democratic candidate Andy Beshear, the son of Gov. Steve Beshear, Beshear said he has consistently been ranked among the top attorneys in America and that he takes on the “big, complex cases.”

He promised to fight Marathon Oil to make sure that Kentuckians pay fair gas prices, fight child abuse and drugs, find better drug-treatment methods, and protect senior citizens from fraud.

Beshear then returned to grilling his opponent, state Sen. Whitney Westerfield of Hopkinsville, accusing him of not understanding the attorney general’s budget.

Earlier, he said politicians try to avoid put their feet in their mouths at Fancy Farm, but “We know that if my opponent puts his foot in his mouth, it’ll be clean, well-trimmed and polished.” That was a reference to a news report that Westerfield missed work to get a pedicure.

Westerfield replied, “I did have a pedicure at lunch but I’m ready to go toe-to-toe with you right now.”

Westerfield pointed out that he’s the only candidate who’s been a prosecutor, and that he has experience fighting drugs and child abuse.

Alluding to Beshear’s heavy funding from interests who stand to gain or lose at the hands of his father’s administration, Westerfield said, “The Beshears are cashing checks that should never have been written.”

Quoting the old expression that there is no education in the second kick of a mule, he said ”There’s no sense in electing another Beshear in Kentucky.”

Westerfield concluded by saying the state needs to protect religious freedom and public officials who exercise it – a reference to the three or four Kentucky county clerks who are refusing to issue any marriage licenses in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision for nationwide gay marriage.

Secretary of State

After sitting through jabs at her refusal to say who she voted for in the 2012 presidential election, Democratic Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes wasted no time in returning the heat toward Kentucky Republicans.

Repeating McConnell’s attacks on Bevin in last year’s Senate primary, she said, “See, Mitch and I actually do agree on some things.” Grime lost to McConnell in the general election.

Grimes then fired at her opponent, Erlanger Council Member Steve Knipper, saying “The last time this office was on the ballot, the Republican who wants to be Kentucky’s chief election official … didn’t even vote.”

Rehashing Republican attack ads from last year’s Senate race, Knipper began his speech by accusing Grimes of spending half her work time running for the Senate.

“You actually have to be in office to accomplish something, and that hasn’t always been the case with Ms. Grimes,” he said.

Knipper said Democrats had attacked Bevin for having something to hide while Grimes had been away from her duties.  He then threw in his approval of Bevin, saying that he had the job experience to improve Kentucky’s economy, and that Knipper himself had the technological skills.

Auditor of Public Accounts

Republican state Rep. Mike Harmon of Danville sarcastically said that the Democratic side of the crowd would boo him even though they knew deep in their hearts that he would be a much better state auditor than incumbent Adam Edelen.

“Well, go ahead and boo, I’m a big guy, I can handle it. I won’t cry like Jack Conway,” Harmon said, referring to the tears Conway shed when explaining his decision not to appeal one of the same-sex marriage rulings that the Supreme Court upheld.

Harmon claimed Edelen switched parties in high school in hopes of being governor, and criticized Edelen for not filling out a questionnaire from Kentucky Right to Life, which endorsed Harmon.

Like his fellow Republicans, Harmon connected Kentucky Democrats to Obama, and encouraged the crowd to give Republicans power in the state capital.

Edelen spoke briefly about his office’s efforts to make a count on unprocessed rape kits to aid sexual assault victims, then about his parents, who taught him the value of hard work, education and meeting their obligations.

“Those are true family values,” he said, accusing Republicans of not being genuine in their advocacy of Christian values.

“Kicking half a million Kentuckians off the insurance rolls with a stroke of a pen is callous, it’s not Christian,” Edelen said, referring to Bevin’s plan to shut down the state health-insurance exchange and original plan to repeal Medicaid expansion.  “Maybe this side of the aisle should put down the books of Ayn Rand and pick up the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.”

Edelen said the election is a battle between “the mainstream and the extreme,” and “values that say ‘we understand we owe a little something, against the law of the jungle.”

State Treasurer

Republican candidate Allison Ball of Prestonsburg spent much of her speech differentiating herself and the other candidate with a similar name.

“I’m the good Allison,” she said in reference to Grimes. 

Ball described herself as a friend of coal and said she voted against Obama.

Finally turning to her opponent, state Rep. Rick Nelson of Middlesboro, Ball said she was the only qualified candidate due to her experience as a bankruptcy attorney, while her opponent is a retired teacher and a liberal Democrat.

Nelson said that he had never been called a liberal, and said his National Rifle Association rating “is 20 points higher than Allison’s.” He said he makes it a policy not to engage in mudslinging.

Nelson, a retired teacher, said a teacher’s life is hard has the opportunity to change lives.  He said his coal-mining family had few material possessions, but lived well with what they had.

“I believe that I have the life experience and the job experience to be your next Kentucky treasurer,” he said.