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 

Bevin endorses, Conway opposes legalizing marijuana for medicinal purposes; next-to-last debate heated at times

By Cheyene Miller

University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Telecommunications

Health care dominated Sunday night’s gubernatorial debate at Eastern Kentucky University and both candidates strayed from party lines on the issue of medical marijuana.

“I would in fact sign such legislation into law,” Republican candidate Matt Bevin said of a bill to legalize medical marijuana.  The Louisville businessman said research shows marijuana can treat patients with epilepsy and other disorders and that these patients desperately need help.

Democratic candidate Jack Conway said he would not support a bill legalizing medical marijuana, and that doing so could lead to an increase in recreational drug abuse.  He said he wouldn’t consider legalization unless the Kentucky Medical Association advocated it.

“Medical marijuana is the only medicine I can think of that would be prescribed in joints,” said Conway, who has been the state’s attorney general for almost eight years.

The candidates also sparred over the expansion of the Medicaid program under federal health reform, a move that covers about 400,000 Kentuckians. 

“The people that are enrolled now, will be enrolled in the future,” said Conway, who said there are too many people on Medicaid, “but to kick them off now would be callous.”

Bevin initially said he would abolish the Medicaid expansion, but later backtracked and said he would seek a federal waiver to change the program, an idea Conway criticized as being fiscally irresponsible.

“It won’t save us any money,” Conway said. “That’s just a red herring.”

In regard to education, Conway said he would look into restoring funding for Bucks for Brains, which endows professorships at universities, as well as restoring some of funding to higher education. “I don’t want to over-promise and under-deliver though,” he added.

Bevin advocated outcomes-based funding, saying the state needs to start differentiating between French literature and electrical engineering.

In response to a reporter’s question after the debate, he endorsed incentives for students seeking careers in science, technology, engineering and math.

“If you are going to ask for taxpayer money to subsidize that education … then it should be used for things that are going to be to the best benefit of the taxpayers themselves,” he said.

On the issue of safety on college campuses, Bevin said he supports the right for trained teachers to carry concealed deadly weapons on campuses. Conway advocated detailed contingency plans by university police departments and reiterated afterward that he does not favor arming teachers.

The debate heated up during several moments, with Bevin persistently accusing Conway of lying to voters.  A squabble ensued after Conway claimed to have cut his office’s budget by 40 percent.

“You keep taking credit for it, and it’s a lie, stop lying to these people,” said Bevin, who noted that the legislature and the governor write state budgets.

Conway said he returned $300 million to Kentucky taxpayers, and that he doesn’t “need a lecture in fiscal responsibility from anybody.”

Both candidates said they would protect and promote Kentucky’s coal industry, which has seen a major reduction in jobs over the past few years.

Bevin said “there is more demand now” for coal than in the history of the world, and the idea that coal jobs are not coming back is false. He said he would stand up to federal over-regulation of the industry.

Conway said he was the “only one who’s actually done anything for coal” and was the only Democratic attorney general to sue the Environmental Protection Agency over coal regulations.

Independent candidate Drew Curtis did not meet the League of Women Voters’ criteria to participate in the debate, at least 10 percent in established, nonpartisan polls.

The election is Tuesday, Nov. 3.

Candidates make misstatements and questionable assertions in televised debate

By Al Cross
Kentucky Health News

Many of the questionable assertions and outright misstatements in Sunday night's debate for governor were about health care. Here's a fact check:

Conway said he had cut his budget as attorney general by 40 percent. Bevin said that was a lie because the legislature writes the budget. The governor receives budget requests from agencies and proposes a budget to the legislature, which passes it.

Bevin said Conway lied when he said Bevin would kick half a million people off health care. Bevin said in February that he would immediately end Gov. Steve Beshear's expansion of the Medicaid program. He has since denied saying that, and said last night that Democratic videos of his quotes omit the question he was asked, but that is not the case with his February quote. He now says he would seek a federal waiver to change the program. It might be argued that he could issue another executive order to replace Beshear's, but the Medicaid program has certain requirements that must be met unless waived, and waivers are not available immediately. While Bevin has been vague about his Medicaid plans, he has made clear for the last three months that his actions would not be as abrupt as he first said they would be.

Conway said the Kynect health-insurance exchange, which Bevin wants to abolish, is three and a half times more efficient than the federal exchange, to which policyholders would go. Bevin said that is "an absolute falsehood" because Kynect is funded by a 1 percent fee on all health-insurance policies in Kentucky and only 2 percent of the policies are bought through Kynect. Conway said afterward that he was referring to the 3.5 percent fee charged by the federal exchange, which would make those policies more expensive. While the term "efficient" could arguably be applied to the cost of those policies, a more common interpretation of Conway's comment would be that he was talking about Kynect's operating efficiency.

Bevin said the Kentucky Health Cooperative, a non-profit health insurer that is closing due to losses and lack of money, was "a distinct part" of the study that predicted the Medicaid expansion would pay for itself until 2020. The cooperative is not mentioned in the study. Bevin said afterward that the co-op was part of the "inputs" considered by the study. Reminded that the issue was the sustainabilty of the Medicaid expansion, Bevin noted the 51,000 co-op policyholders who will be losing their coverage. Reminded that Kynect has seven other insurers they can select from, Bevin asked, "Where are those taxpayers dollars going to go?" He was reminded that the co-op was funded by federal dollars, and "Those are our dollars." Bevin is running for governor, not president, but he is trying to appeal to people who dislike the entire "Obamacare' system. He appears to be using the co-op's failure to suggest that the system is not sustainable. However, the co-op, Kynect and the Medicaid expansion operate separately and are separately funded.

Conway quoted Bevin as saying that early childhood education, Conway's main issue, "serves no purpose." Bevin said was "another of those Democrat lies" because his full quote was that it serves no purpose after the third grade. That is based on a study that showed the effects of Head Start disappear after the third grade. Head Start is not the same as the early-childhood education program advocated by Conway, but Bevin has equated the two in the past.

Bevin said the state does not have the surplus that Conway mentioned because it has "tens of billions of dollars in unfunded liabilities." He was referring to state pension funds, which get annual appropriations from the budget but are financially separate. Budgets are for two years and the unfunded liability is for projected payments for current employees for the rest of their lives.

Bevin said, "It's a false idea that coal jobs can't come back." He noted that world coal demand has never been higher, but that ignores the facts that many electric plants in the U.S. have abandoned coal for cheaper natural gas and the coal in Central Appalachia is by far the most expensive to mine in the U.S. The Kentucky part of that coalfield has lost half its coal jobs in the last three years.

Major-party candidates for lieutenant governor debate education and other issues for an hour on KET

By Cheyene Miller
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Telecommunications

Early childhood education has been a recurring talking point for the Democratic gubernatorial ticket, but “wasn’t even on the radar” of the Republican slate, its candidate for lieutenant governor said Monday night.

Overly, left, and Hampton (Lexington Herald-Leader photos)

Republican Jenean Hampton and Democrat Sannie Overly rehashed arguments over education and several other key gubernatorial race issues for an hour Monday evening on KET’s “Kentucky Tonight.” Independent Heather Curtis was not invited.

Half the time was spent on schools. Overly said that she and running mate Jack Conway released a detailed education plan “to ensure that Kentucky kids get the very best education possible.”

The state representative from Paris said she and Conway want to oversee “a historic expansion” of early learning opportunities, and she criticized Hampton running mate Matt Bevin for saying that programs like Head Start serve no purpose because their impact disappears after the third grade.

Hampton said she and Bevin would take a close look at Head Start’s results and make sure that the dollars are being spent “effectively and efficiently.”

Hampton questioned the efficiency of Head Start and pointed out Kentucky’s low literacy rates. “That is simply offensive to even accept that,” she said.

According to Hampton, early childhood education was not the issue of choice for her and Bevin’s campaign. “This is a non-issue for us,” she said. “This wasn’t even on our radar.”

Overly said that there has been extensive research proving that Head Start “is the one thing that can break a cycle of poverty in a state like Kentucky,” said Overly, adding that there are stark differences between the two tickets on education, such as the Democrats’ support of, and Republicans’ opposition to, the Common Core State Standards.  “It’s not limited to early learning programs.”

The two women also sparred on how to improve business and the economy in Kentucky, one of the poorest states in the nation.

Hampton, an industrial-process specialist, said she and Bevin have more than 60 years of business leadership experience between them, and would make Kentucky a right-to-work state and improve its ways to attract businesses.

While the candidates largely agreed on promoting Kentucky’s tourist attractions, they took polar stances on raising the state minimum wage, which currently reflects the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour and $2.13 per hour for tipped workers.

“The minimum wage was never meant to be a livable wage,” said Hampton, who said that minimum wage hikes have “disastrous effects” on small businesses.  She said it was better to attract businesses and promote competition.

Ideally, Overly said, the federal government would raise the minimum wage nationwide, but she and Conway favor a bill that would raise the state minimum to $10.10 per hour over three years.

The candidates then tried to clarify for votes the reality of the current state of the Kentucky economy.

Overly cited Kentucky winning Site Selection magazine’s Governor’s Cup for expanded industry activity per capita in 2014 as a sign that Kentucky is improving under a Democratic administration.

 “Governor Beshear has marketed our state very well through difficult times,” Overly said of her fellow Democrat, who will leave office in December.

Hampton likened Kentucky’s financial status to the sinkhole that swallowed eight cars at the National Corvette Museum in her hometown of Bowling Green, saying it was “shiny on top but eroding underneath.”

Next Monday’s edition of “Kentucky Tonight” will features a debate between Conway and Bevin with Bill Goodman moderating. The night before, they will meet in a commercially televised debate at Eastern Kentucky University.

The election is Tuesday, Nov. 3.

A historic debate for lieutenant governor: all the candidates are women

By Cheyene Miller
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Telecommunications

Kentucky witnessed history Tuesday night as three female candidates for lieutenant governor squared off in a debate at the William T. Young Library at the University of Kentucky.

From left: Jenean Hampton, Heather Curtis and Sannie Overly
(WUKY-FM photo by Josh James)

While the three male gubernatorial candidates have dominated the state headlines in recent weeks, Tuesday night was all about the women, who discussed a range of issues affecting Kentucky. 

Democratic candidate Sannie Overly said she and running mate Jack Conway “have a record of bringing folks together from both sides of the aisle” to get things accomplished, as well as her experience in engineering and as a member of the state House.

Republican candidate Jenean Hampton talked about her experience living in an impoverished area of Detroit and working her way up to being a plant manager. “I rose from the ashes of the inner city and accomplished a lot,” she said.

Making her first appearance on a debate stage was independent candidate Heather Curtis, wife and running mate of Drew Curtis. She talked about her experience as a therapist and willingness to put scientific practical and well-researched solutions over partisan politics. “I like experts, I like people who know what they’re doing, I like science,” she said.

Many of the questions focused on issues facing Kentucky women and children, such as public education and the minimum wage, since two-thirds of Kentucky minimum wage workers are women and the event was sponsored in part by the UK Women’s Forum.

Hampton said inflating the minimum wage would be “a disaster waiting to happen,” and that she had to work her way up the ladder when she worked a low wage job. “The minimum wage was never meant to be a living wage,” she said.

Overly said she and Conway support raising the minimum wage on the state level to $10.10 an hour over a period of three years, and criticized Hampton’s running mate Matt Bevin for not wanting to give Kentucky workers a living wage.

Curtis posited potentially offering an exemption for small businesses, which she said tend to get hit the hardest by minimum-wage hikes.

Overly said she and Conway released a detailed education plan, and intend to create a “historic expansion of early learning opportunities” for Kentucky children, while criticizing Bevin for not supporting early childhood education.

Hampton said Head Start programs are not doing their jobs and many Kentuckians have substandard literacy. “I believe that is unacceptable, apparently my opponent does not,” said Hampton, who said Kentuckians must be better stewards of the dollar.

Curtis said the biggest problems with education are inequality and poverty. She promoted a concept called “scaffolding,” which she described as teaching children a step at a time, and that it would be “a great place to start.”

Addressing poverty in Kentucky, one of the poorest states, Hampton touted creating more economic opportunity. The single biggest thing we can do … is increase opportunity,” said Hampton, who proposed making Kentucky a right-to-work state and look into restructuring the state’s tax code. 

Overly said the state should “invest in education,” as a way to combat poverty. “Our (Overly and Conway) education plan addresses education from top to bottom,” she said. Curtis said Kentucky politicians should look to experts and scholars such as the ones at UK for solutions on the state’s poverty dilemma.

The latest Bluegrass Poll, released Sept. 30, showed Conway with a slight lead over Bevin, 42 percent to 37 percent. Seven percent said they would vote for Drew Curtis and 15 percent were undecided. The election is Tuesday, Nov. 3.

Fact-checking the candidates in the latest debate

By Anthony Pendleton
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Telecommunications

As the candidates for governor faced off in their first one-on-one televised debate Tuesday, again more questionable statements were made. Here are some of those statements, and how they stand up to the facts.

Common Core State Standards Initiative

               Republican Matt Bevin said, “We embraced it here in Kentucky before the standards were even written.”

               According to this interactive map on corestandards.org, Kentucky adopted the standards on Feb. 10, 2010. According to an article in Education Week, that made Kentucky the first state to do so. However, the article also states that the standards were “still in draft form, with a final version expected by early spring.” According to a press release from the Council of Chief State School Officers and the National Governors Association, a final version was released on June 2.

               If Bevin meant Kentucky adopted the standards before they were written, he’d be wrong – Kentucky adopted them while they were still being drafted. If he was referring to the fact that Kentucky signed on with the CCSSO and NGA to develop the standards in June 2009, i.e. before they were written, then he’d be correct. But so did 46 states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. But that was just an agreement to help develop the standards, so of course nothing would be written at that point.

The economy

               Bevin also criticized the performance of the economy during Democrat Jack Conway’s eight years as attorney general. That office has little to do with the economy, but Bevin was implicitly criticizing another Democrat, Gov. Steve Beshear, whom Conway has praised.

               “When Jack came into office seven-and-a-half years ago, there were 71,000 more people working in Kentucky than there are today," Bevin said. "At the beginning of this year, there were 31,000 more people working in Kentucky than there are today. And he’s quick to blame this on the downturn of the economy. Well, Indiana over the same time period, has 50,000 plus more people working today. Tennessee has created more than 20,000 jobs a year more than we have.”

               Conway was sworn into office as attorney general in January 2008. At that time, Kentucky had 2,021,045 people in the labor force, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. As of August 2015, the most recent data available, Kentucky has 1,941,531 in the labor force. This is a decrease of 79,514 people, so Bevin actually understated the shrinkage of the state’s labor force.

               According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Kentucky had 1,981,807 people in the labor force in January of this year. As previously stated, data from August shows there are currently 1,941,531 in the labor force. This is a decrease of 40,276 people, so Bevin is correct, and understating again.

               According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Indiana had 3,211,065 people in the labor force in January 2008. In August 2015, the most recent data available, Indiana had 3,265,095 people in the labor force. This is an increase of 54,030 people. Again, Bevin is correct.

               According to the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee, Tennessee has created 290,400 jobs from February 2010 to August 2015. Kentucky has created 142,600 jobs during that same time -- a difference of 147,800 more jobs created in Tennessee. Over the course of 5.5 years, an average of 26,872 more jobs were created in Tennessee each year. Yet again, Bevin is correct.

               But while Kentucky might be in the red on job creation over an eight year span, but a deeper look into current numbers tells a different story.

In 2015, Kentucky has created 34,100 jobs, Indiana 75,600, and Tennessee 52,500; however Indiana and Tennessee are much larger states than Kentucky. When those numbers are compared to the workforce in each state Kentucky has created 17.6 jobs per 1,000 members of the labor force. Indiana is significantly ahead, at 23.2 jobs per 1,000, but Tennessee is actually slightly behind Kentucky, at 17.2 jobs per 1,000 members of the labor force.

Minimum Wage

               Conway said he believes it should be raised to $10.10 on the federal level because “you cannot raise a family on $7.25 an hour.”

               According to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Living Wage Map, that is correct. There’s not a single county in America that can support either a family of four, a single parent with one child, or a single adult on $7.25 an hour. And there are only a handful of counties in Washington state, which has a minimum wage of $9.32, that can support a single adult on just the state minimum wage.

Information for this story was also gathered by UK journalism student Matt Young.

Bevin, Conway have first televised, one-on-one debate

By Cheyene Miller and Matt Young
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Telecommunications

Neither of the two major party candidates made a large impact with the first televised head-to-head debate in the governor’s race, four weeks before the Nov. 3 election.

Republican Matt Bevin and Democrat Jack Conway both threw plenty of punches, but neither landed with the force they had probably hoped. They broke little new ground on the issues during Tuesday night’s debate at Centre College in Danville.

In a race that has struggled to gain attention or interest from voters, both candidates took to the stage to press repeat on their record players of political statements.

One of the few times the debate elicited a response from the audience came when Bevin said he wants to make it easier and more attractive for businesses in Kentucky to open. “We will, indeed, un-constipate Frankfort,” Bevin said. “You can take that to the bank.”

That line won applause, but so did Conway’s reply.

“I prefer to say I’m going to streamline it, rather than un-constipate it,” said Conway, who also said Kentucky is number two in the nation in small business creation per capita.

Bevin said changes need to be made to make Kentucky more competitive and he would push “right to work” legislation, which would outlaw labor contracts that require workers to pay union dues. Both Tennessee and Indiana have these laws, and Bevin argued that they put Kentucky at a competitive disadvantage for attracting business.

“For those of you that are struggling to find gainful employment, how is that per capita ratio thing working for you?” asked Bevin, who also said Kentucky currently has 71,000 fewer jobs than at the beginning of Conway’s term as attorney general.

Bevin opened by touting his business career, saying he was the only one on stage who had “been the executive of anything.” He added that of the two candidates, he was the only one who ever ran a business, created a job or made payroll.

Conway cast himself as a fiscal conservative, saying he cut his office’s budget by 40 percent and was the only Democratic attorney general in the country who sued the Environmental Protection Agency over regulations on coal.

The candidates reiterated their positions on under-funding of state pensions, perhaps the most critical long-term issue facing Kentucky lawmakers.

“We have to make changes or nobody will get what’s been promised to them,” said Bevin, who advocated moving pension recipients to a defined contribution plan, similar to a 401(k) style savings plan. This creates a problem with the Kentucky Teachers Retirement System because teachers are not eligible to receive social security, and risk outliving their 401(k).

Conway said the state legislature has made the proper fixes in previous years and the systems can be solvent if the minimum payment, known as ARC, was made by the legislature — something that has not consistently happened for over a decade.

The soundbites got serious when the candidates were asked about the recent shooting at an Oregon community college that left nine people dead. The question introduced the topic of gun control, which often follows in the wake of mass shootings.

“We have to take a good, hard look at mental illness,” said Conway, who said that he does not favor stricter gun regulations or allowing teachers to be armed in schools.

Bevin said he is also against stricter gun regulations, and said he favored allowing armed teachers in school. He noted that he, his wife, his running mate Jenean Hampton and her husband are proud gun owners.

When Bevin and Conway were directly questioned each other, Conway continued to focus on Bevin’s refusal to release his tax returns, an unofficial tradition for Kentucky candidates for governor. Bevin said he will not release his tax returns, and noted once again that he is not legally required to do so.

Bevin took the opportunity to question Conway for taking money from political groups with anti-coal agendas, to which Conway replied he has accepted money from people he later put in jail.

In their closing statements, the candidates told voters to ask themselves who they trust to run their state.

“I don’t feel the need to lie about Jack Conway,” said Bevin, referring to the millions of dollars in attack advertising against him. He emphasized his business career as a qualification for the governor’s office.

Conway said his experience as attorney general qualified him for the job. “I understand Kentucky,” said Conway, of Louisville. “I have a plan for Kentucky, and I’ve delivered for Kentucky.”

The most recent Bluegrass Poll, released on Sept. 30, showed Conway with a small edge at 42 percent of potential votes compared to Bevin’s 37 percent. Seven percent said they would vote for independent candidate Drew Curtis and 15 percent are undecided.

Curtis did not meet the organizers' criteria for inclusion in the debate, but was in the debate hall and answered reporters' questions after the hour-long debate. Today the founder of social-networking news site fark.com published an essay questioning the need for political parties.

The debate was sponsored by Centre, AARP and WAVE-TV, Louisville, and was also broadcast on stations in Lexington and Northern Kentucky, and by out-of state stations serving northeastern Kentucky and the Paducah and Owensboro regions.

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.

Lieutenant-governor candidates disagree on sexual-harassment case, education, health care and more

By Megan Ingros
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Telecommunications
An initial version of this story first appeared in the Kentucky Kernel, the independent student newspaper.

Candidates for Kentucky lieutenant governor were divided on a sexual harassment scandal, education, health care and other major issues in their first debate Wednesday night.

Candidates Sannie Overly and Jenean Hampton met at Midway University in a debate sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Kentucky, which prepared the questions.

Overly is running with Democratic Attorney General Jack Conway, and Hampton with Republican businessman Matt Bevin. Independent candidate Heather Curtis, running mate of husband Drew Curtis, did not meet the league's polling criteria (10 percent or higher voter recognition in established nonpartisan polls) to participate. The last public poll, in late July, didn't measure name recognition but showed Drew Curtis with 8 percent support.

The debate was more civil than the first televised gubernatorial debate held last week, but included its share of sharp moments. The sharpest came when Overly denounced Bevin for his “false attacks” in that debate, in which he said she turned her back on female state workers who said they were sexually harassed by a former state lawmaker, a Democrat.

“That’s why even Kentucky Republicans call Matt Bevin a pathological liar,” said Overly, who said she and Conway condemned the behavior and would change the culture in Frankfort.

Hampton replied that Overly “fought very hard during the harassment case to have her deposition sealed,” and would not testify in the case until she knew it would be sealed.

On education issues, the candidates disagreed about the Common Core State Standards and state vouchers for private education.

Hampton said she understands the need for education because it “was the key to escaping the inner city” of Detroit, but “I do not support Common Core because from what I’ve seen from it, it dumbs down the curriculum and our students are better than that.”

Overly said, “I think the results speak for themselves. We’ve doubled the number of kids in Kentucky who are college ready at graduation. . . . Since the Kentucky core standards have been implemented our college readiness at high school has doubled. It's gone from 31 percent to 62 percent.”

On rebuttal, Overly took a shot: “While the Bevin campaign may not support Common Core or even Kentucky high standards, we do know that Bevin has enriched himself from investing in companies that sell Common Core software.” Hampton didn’t reply to that, but said Common Core is “too driven from the top down” and “We need a system. We need to find the best and implement that here.”

Overly noted her slate's support of expanded early-childhood education, and noted that Bevin has said it "serves no purpose: "It is another big contrast in this race."

Hampton said Common Core is "too driven from the top top down" and pledged to return control of schools to the local level as much as possible. "We also believe in parental choice" of schools, she said.

Common Core is a set of standards for students in kindergarten through 12th grade. According to the initiative it was “create to ensure that all students graduate from high school with the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in college, career, and life, regardless of where they live.”

Asked how they would make post-secondary education more affordable, Overly said she wants to hold colleges and universities accountable and offer a statewide apprentice program so students can "earn while they learn" and afford the cost of college.

Hampton said she would work with students to help them understand they can minimize their debt, and work with schools to make students are aware of their choices as a career path.

Health care was another major topic, with Overly supporting the expansion of Medicaid to 400,000 Kentuckians and the state's Kynect health-insurance exchange.

Hampton questioned the cost of the expansion and said "Kynect is a redundant system and we don't have the money to continue it." The exchange is funded by a 1 percent fee on all health-insurance policies sold in the state.

Overly said, “If we do away with that and go to federal exchange it’s going to go to a 3 1/2 percent charge, which in essence would be a tax increase for Kentuckians,” Overly said. Actually, the federal fee is only on policies sold through the federal exchange.

Overly said it would cost $23 million to dismantle Kynect and asked Hampton, "Where are you going to come up with that money?"

Hampton replied, "My question is, where we come up with the dollars to go to Medicaid at the end of 2017, when the federal subsidies are gone?" Actually, the subsidies for the Medicaid expansion do not disappear. The federal government is paying the entire cost of the expansion through next year, but states will begin paying 5 percent in 2017, rising in steps to the law's limit of 10 percent in 2020.

“Jack and I will monitor Medicaid and see if we can afford going forward,” Overly said. She cited a state-funded study predicting that the expansion will pay for itself by creating health-care jobs and tax revenue, putting $30 billion into Kentucky’s economy through 2021.

Hampton said the underlying premise of "Obamacare" is the belief that people are incapable of making their own health-care decisions, but she didn't elaborate.

Asked if they agreed with Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis's refusal to issue same-sex marriage licenses, Overly said Davis should have followed a federal judge's order, but Hampton said “Matt and I side with Kim Davis because this is an issue of religious freedom. However, to say that it is the law of the land is questionable . . . because if that were true I would still be a slave.”

The Supreme Court interprets the Constitution, which was amended in 1865 to ban slavery. Hampton also questioned whether the court can overrule the state's constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, but Overly, a lawyer, noted that the U.S. Constitution has a supremacy clause overriding state laws.

The debate's first question was "What is the most significant issue the new governor will face?"

Hampton said, “The $34 billion pension shortfall has potential to derail everything we do in Kentucky,” Hampton said. She repeated Bevin's emphasis on growing the economy to fund programs.

Overly replied, “Growing more and better good paying jobs for the people here in Kentucky,” making the first of several mentions of heir campaign's jobs plan that will "change the environment here in Kentucky."

The debate was co-sponsored by Midway University and CBS affiliates WKYT-TV of Lexington and WLKY-TV of Louisville. WKYT anchor and political editor Bill Bryant and WLKY anchor Vicki Dortch asked the questions.

Bevin turns up the heat, during debate and afterward

By Matthew Young
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Telecommunications

In a governor’s race that has been conspicuous for its relative silence, Republican Matt Bevin is turning up the heat on Democrat Jack Conway.

Matt Bevin and Jack Conway
(Lexington Herald-Leader photos)

Content for weeks to ride the wave of conservative anger and frustration over County Clerk Kim Davis’ fight against gay marriage in Rowan County, Bevin is now aiming directly at Conway, the two-term state attorney general.

The most spirited attack came in Tuesday night’s Bellarmine University debate when Bevin called Conway, in no uncertain terms, a liar.

That came after Conway accused Bevin of saying he would like to see the road fund in Kentucky – in dire need of cash – drained all the way to zero, then have it audited. Bevin’s anger was palpable in his response:

“First of all, so much of what comes out of your mouth, Jack, is absolutely made up. I have never once called for letting anything go to zero and then auditing it. You literally make lies up on the fly. So I would challenge those of you watching, check carefully with the facts.”

The Conway campaign later cited a Beattyville Enterprise article from last year’s U.S. Senate primary in which Bevin said government public-works projects have "served their purpose," but could not provide any evidence that Bevin wanted the highway fund to fall to zero.

Bevin lashed back at several attacks.

He is still fighting off claims that he was delinquent on taxes, something fact-checkers largely cleared him of early in the Senate primary against Sen. Mitch McConnell.

A recent Conway ad shows Bevin saying the Farm Bill was “an insult to farmers.” The screen then splits and shows him saying that was “a misrepresentation of what I said.”

Bevin has a case, since the “insult” he spoke about was the bill’s longstanding non-agriculture provisions, and the money it funneled to big agribusiness.

The ad also says Bevin told one group that early childhood education “after the age of nine serves no purpose,” then shows him denying that he opposes early childhood education.

While Bevin has said Head Start’s benefits to children disappear after the third grade, Head Start and early childhood education are not exactly the same.

More clearly, Bevin has backtracked on the expansion of Medicaid in Kentucky to include more than 400,000 people. After he said he would end the expansion, and Conway accused him of being callous, he denied saying he would end it and said he would seek a less expensive alternative, like Indiana’s.

The frustration seems to have taken its toll on Bevin. Tuesday night’s debate was not the only time he directly attacked Conway.

In an interview with Kentucky Public Radio, Bevin told host Ryland Barton, “Jack Conway supports the idea of bankrupting the coal industry.” Conway notes that he is the only Democratic attorney general who has sued to block the Obama administration’s regulation of greenhouse gases from coal-fired power plants.

While Bevin may lack evidence to back up this attack, it suggests he will keep up the heat as the race heats up.

Perhaps the most personal attack from Bevin was about race.

Bevin, who has adopted four black children from Ethiopia and chose Jenean Hampton, a black conservative activist, as his running mate for lieutenant governor, used race to question a lack of action from Conway on Gov. Steve Beshear’s appointment to university boards.

“I would question whether or not it's racially motivated that our governor and attorney general have no qualm with, even though its statutorily required, having no blacks on the University of Louisville board,” he said in the debate. Conway has said he would correct that.

Returning to his favorite argument, about the Rowan County clerk’s stand against gay marriage, and Conway’s non-appeal of a ruling that led to the Supreme Court’s legalization of it, Bevin said, “We have an attorney general who is once again turning a blind eye. We’re quick to put a Kim Davis in jail for not doing her job; we tell her to quit or do her job. We have an attorney general that repeatedly does not do his job, and a governor in the same boat. We cannot have a double standard in this state."

Conway replied that the law gives him discretion not to appeal, an appeal would have been futile and wasteful, and “the good-paying jobs of the future” will come to states that are inclusive. “I think Kim Davis went to jail because she defied a federal court order. I have sympathy for her, but we are a nation of laws.”

Matt Young is a student in Covering the Governor's Race, a course in the University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Telecommunications, taught by Journalist In Residence John Winn Miller and Associate Extension Professor Al Cross.

Candidates use religious values: Bevin on Rowan clerk, Conway on Bevin's attitude toward Medicaid expansion

By Cheyene Miller
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Telecommunications

The big job at stake this year is Kentucky governor, but the headlines and sound bites suggest that the Nov. 3 election is about religious values.

In a race that doesn’t seem to be gathering much public interest, Democratic Attorney General Jack Conway and Republican businessman Matt Bevin are using religion to appeal to Kentucky voters, who remain a highly religious voting base.

Bevin is using Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis’s jailing for refusing to issue marriage licenses to his advantage, saying Davis’s religious liberties and First Amendment rights are being violated.

Bevin criticizes Conway, who refused to appeal last year’s federal ruling that Kentucky’ same-sex marriage ban was unconstitutional, for not doing his job.

Conway said last year that he would not appeal because the lower-court judge got it right, an appeal would be on the wrong side of history, and good-paying jobs are going to states that allow marriage equality.

The independent candidate, Fark.com CEO Drew Curtis, says clerks have the right to their own personal beliefs but must follow the law as public officials.

The Davis situation did not mark the first time Bevin spoke about Christian values, as he made it one of his primary talking points during Fancy Farm Picnic weekend July 31-Aug. 1. “We need to stop apologizing for the Christian principles, the great American values that make this country great,” he said at a Republican dinner.

Conway has found his religious angle with the Medicaid expansion and Kynect, the Kentucky health insurance market, established under federal health reform. The two functions have given coverage to about 521,000 people and helped Kentucky reduce its uninsured rate more than almost any state in the nation.

In his speech at Fancy Farm, Conway criticized Bevin for not applying his Christian values to his views on health care. He said voters should elect someone who “understands that the truly Christian thing to do is to say that we are our brother’s keeper and healthcare for our people makes us a healthier and better society.”

Bevin has said that he would dismantle Kynect, but has backtracked on plans to abolish the Medicaid expansion, saying he would adopt a less expensive program, perhaps like Indiana’s, in which clients can pay premiums to get better benefits and get refunds if they don’t use the benefits.

In addition to health care, Conway and Bevin have also sparred on Kentucky’s pension system, which is considered one of the worst in the country. 

Bevin cites his experience at managing pension-fund assets, but was unfamiliar with a key facet of the state’s pension system when questioned about it this summer. He advocates moving away from Kentucky’s current pension system in favor of a 401k-style system and offering incentives to current employees who switch.

Conway says he is committed to making the pension payments required by a recent law, and wants to find a designated source of revenue for that.

Curtis proposes issuing a $5 billion bond, structured as a line of credit, that can be tapped in years when pension funds aren’t keeping up with their obligations, and pay back the debt in years when it runs ahead.

Conway is focusing his campaign strategy on education and Bevin’s statement in the Republican primary debate that early childhood education’s effects disappear after the third grade.

Conway released his education plan on Tuesday, proposing early education for 3-year-olds with parents making up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level (the same level as those who qualify for the Medicaid expansion) to during his first year in office, and all 3- and 4-year-olds whose parents make up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level by the end of his first term.

Bevin is more conservative on education and favors charter schools.

On television, the candidates and their supporters have questioned each other’s integrity.  Conway has used recycled verbal jabs from the 2014 Senate Republican primary, in which Sen. Mitch McConnell’s campaign called Bevin an “East Coast con man” and a “pathological liar.” He also criticizes Bevin for not releasing his tax returns, which Bevin says he will do if elected.

Bevin hasn’t run TV ads in the general election, but outside groups supporting him are trying to tie Conway to President Obama,

All three candidates have female lieutenant-governor running mates, Democrat Sannie Overly, Republican Jenean Hampton and independent Heather Curtis, the candidate’s wife. Hampton would be Kentucky’s first black statewide elected official.

The most recent Bluegrass Poll, in late July, had Conway leading with 43 percent of respondents, Bevin with 38 percent and Curtis with 8 percent.

The first debate with all three candidates will be held Tuesday at Bellarmine University in Louisville, from 7 to 8 p.m. ET. It will be televised and streamed by WHAS-TV and WKYT-TV, and is also sponsored by The Courier-Journal and the Lexington Herald-Leader. The four news outlets sponsor the Bluegrass Poll.