A candidate for Congress, suspends her campaign and narrows the field in the sixth district Republican primary, three candidates face off in a special state Senate election in Louisville this coming week.

Governor Beshear begins his tenure as the head of the Democratic Governors Association, Kentucky's first medical marijuana dispensary is set to open this weekend.

The holiday season brings joy as wintry weather brings challenges, and comment is next on KET.

Good evening.

I'm Bill Bryant and we welcome you to comment on Kentucky, a look back at and some analysis of the week's news in the Commonwealth and the guests on our panel of working Kentucky journalists tonight are Sylvia Goodman, Capitol reporter for Kentucky Public Radio, Hannah Pinski politics reporter for the Courier-Journal, and Mario Anderson, anchor and host of InFocus Kentucky on Spectrum News one.

Also tonight, we'll have the latest on Kentucky's hard fought U.S.

Senate race and a major Kentucky jobs announcement from Kroger.

But let's begin with a jarring situation on a Kentucky college campus.

A shooting at Kentucky State University this week.

Sylvia a chaotic scene.

Just as students were getting ready to go home for the holidays.

>> Yeah, really tragic situation shut down the campus while police got hold of Jacob Bard.

It got him in custody.

It seems like it was a personal altercation.

One student killed, another critically injured, taken to the hospital.

Not an active shooter situation, it would appear, but still nonetheless put the campus in turmoil.

He's so far pled not guilty.

And classes are canceled and final exams for the rest of the last week.

So definitely a very scary situation.

Luckily, more people weren't hurt.

It seems like police got to the scene very quickly.

>> And put Kentucky in the national news for for a couple of days there.

Yeah.

All right.

On to politics.

Republican congressional candidate Diana Gordon suspending her campaign in central Kentucky in the sixth district.

And it narrows that race now to three remaining candidates on the GOP side.

That's in the race to replace Andy Barr, who is leaving the seat open as he runs for the U.S.

Senate.

Hannah do we know why Gordon decided to seek reelection in Frankfort?

Where she represents Madison County, rather than continuing her race to try to go to Washington?

>> Yeah.

So in her announcement that she was suspending her campaign, she had said over the past several weeks she had realized her work in Frankfort is not done, and that's why she's running for reelection for her state seat.

I think, though, looking at this race on a broader scale, the the Republican primaries crowded and she had to ask herself, is it worth to give up her state seat to, to potentially run for Barr seat?

And I think when you're not a clear frontrunner in that type of race, it's difficult to justify running for that seat.

Potentially.

>> She had to make that choice.

>> Yes, she had to make that choice.

And I think also, you know, looking at her fundraising numbers as well, she had loaned herself a significant amount of money in that first quarter report.

So maybe that was potentially indicative of, you know, maybe she isn't the one wouldn't be the winner in that upcoming primary.

>> The remaining GOP candidates are Doctor Ralph Alvarado, who is a former state senator, current state representative Ryan Dodson, a businessman and church pastor.

And lesser known candidates Adam Perez Marquette and Greg Plucinski, who may benefit Hannah from Gordon's departure from the race.

>> I think right now, Alvarado and Dodson have the most name recognition in that race, so they could potentially benefit, especially if Gordon decides to endorse any of the candidates.

That could potentially happen as well.

>> We'll watch for that.

>> Mario and Gordon.

Deanna Gordon she typically has been more of a moderate type Republican in the state legislature in Frankfort.

So with her no longer being in the race, Ralph Alvarado is Hannah mentioned.

He may get a lot of extra benefit from that, since he typically is, again, more in that moderate style of Republican.

But then Ryan Dodson, he's more of a social conservative.

So two different types of candidates there.

So we'll see how things play out over the next few months.

>> Yeah.

And who turns out for primaries, you know, becomes the question right.

>> Big question.

>> You know.

And sometimes it is the more activist parties partizans who do.

So we'll see.

Sylvia.

Democrats obviously have their eye on the sixth district as a possible flip.

And they have a crowded primary.

Former state Representative Cherlynn Stevenson former federal prosecutor Zach Dembo, former Lexington Council member David Kloiber and Aaron Petrie, who left a job in Washington to come home and run for Congress.

Does anybody hold an advantage in that crowded race?

>> Well, when I hear that list of names, the one that I recognize that I think the most about is Cherlynn Stevenson.

She's a former Democratic leadership in the in the House.

Of course, she didn't win her reelection for that seat.

That's why she's now well, one of the reasons she's now running for U.S.

House, but that might be some Frankfort reporter bias, I think.

Right.

Not everyone knows about the who's the leadership in Frankfort.

Right.

So I think that all of them still have a lot of work to do in terms of name I.D.

when we talk about a frontrunner, I think one of the easiest ways to look at it is campaign finance.

Now, obviously, that's a very it's not a clear indicator, right?

People win when they don't aren't the biggest fundraiser.

But Stevenson and Dembo have kind of shown themselves the lead in that front.

So it looks like those two might be frontrunners but got to keep watching.

We got a few months to go.

>> Could has the finances on his own to write a check potentially and catch up?

>> He sure did.

When he ran for Lexington Mayor, he self-financed most of his campaign, and he's held back so far in the early parts of this campaign for U.S.

House.

But I'm sure that he'll open up the pocketbook and move forward with that.

And then Cherlynn Stevenson she's already been endorsed by Lieutenant Governor Jacqueline Coleman, and Jacqueline Coleman has been with her since she basically announced with then governor Beshear did endorse Cherlynn Stevenson when she was running for reelection to the state legislature.

So she's got a lot of ties to Frankfort.

But again, time will tell on that race as well.

>> She's also created events when there's been an opportunity to communicate on a on a national policy matter.

She's taken advantage of that.

Stevenson.

>> That's right.

And making, traveling, trying to travel around the central Kentucky area, but then utilizing social media to respond to various acts that are coming out of Congress or out of the white House, being very quick to issue a statement and share what they would do, what she would do if she was in a position as a sitting congresswoman.

>> Okay.

So we're carefully watching the sixth district race in two major primaries there, with the one being reshaped, as we said this week, with Deanna Gordon deciding she will run for her seat in Frankfort and not for that congressional seat, the U.S.

Senate race will be at the top of the ballot in Kentucky next year.

Voters will be replacing the state's longest serving senator ever, Mitch McConnell.

There are primaries on both sides of the Senate race as well, and Democrats really have a crowded field among the candidates Logan Forsythe, Dale Romans, Joel Willett, Amy McGrath and Pamela Stephenson.

And then last week, Charles Booker shook up the race by jumping in, and Mario talked to him about why he's running.

>> I am not running for a title.

I I'm going to get a whole lot of grays.

I'm a type one diabetic.

I'm going to put myself through a lot for this race.

And so I'm certainly not doing it just to have a seat.

I'm committed to ending poverty.

I want the people of Kentucky to thrive no matter where you're from, what you look like, the color of your skin, how much money you have in your pocket.

The government should work for you.

You pay for it.

>> Booker A narrowly lost the Democratic primary in 2020 to Amy McGrath.

He was the Democratic nominee for the Senate in 2022.

Does he believe Mario the third time is charm for him?

>> He says he does.

And he's talked about it extensively, and he said that he's won a proven.

He was previously the nominee for this role.

He says that voters already know his platform.

He's very big on the Kentucky New Deal.

That's what he's branded as one of his campaign platform issues.

But also he's utilizing a previous poll that came out back in October that showed him up in this particular race for name identification.

But all eyes are on the city of Louisville and Jefferson County, because there's a high registration of Democrats who will weigh in on that race.

And he's from the Louisville area, has served representing Louisville strong ties there.

So he's hoping that that will carry him forward.

>> But now you have multiple candidates from Jefferson County.

>> You sure do, including Dale Romans, who is a circling around that area, but also utilizing his connections to the horse industry across the state but also across the country to get donations.

>> Hannah when you look at that, that Democratic primary and it being so crowded, what do you see?

>> I think it'll be interesting to see how the numbers split up between all the candidates.

I think looking at the election is months away, we all know, but I think it's going to be a tight race between all of them.

I think right now people see Booker and McGrath as the top two choices, potentially because, you know, they've run in races before they have name ID recognition.

But we'll have to kind of see, you know, once more polling numbers come out, what those numbers look like heading into the race.

>> We did the math last week and it was 17% could elect you.

You know, if it's if it's really closely divided.

So it, you know, you can almost make a case that any candidate could get there with the right strategy.

>> Yeah.

And you also have to note that, right.

We just said that McGrath and Booker are both, you know, have the best name ID.

They also have name ID for losing their races.

They lost by pretty big margins.

Now they were running against incumbents.

And this is an open seat.

So that definitely changes the formula a little bit.

But again they did lose their races.

So maybe people want a fresh face.

>> Yeah I think that a lot of these candidates, they are again they're aware of Kentucky politics.

They're aware that voter turnout in a primary is typically very low.

So the winner could win with 17% or just a couple hundred votes, because there's the votes can be split, you know, seven, eight ways at minimum this time around.

>> Well, also in that crowded field, the Democratic Senate candidates is House Minority Leader Pamela Stephenson.

She told me this week she expects health care to be a major issue now that it appears subsidies for ACA or Obamacare premiums won't be extended.

>> Human beings need health care.

And we if we're going to be who we say we are, liberty and justice for all, if we're going to be every voice matters, then we have to provide it in some way.

Now, if you have a plan to provide it, okay.

But if you don't, don't mess with what's currently working.

Well, for many people.

>> Sylvia, with these subsidies being allowed to expire, some could apparently see their premiums double in the coming year.

>> Yeah, doubling on average.

Our data reporter Justin Hicks over at Kentucky Public Radio did an analysis based on state data and found that averaging all the counties because counties, it varies by county.

Some people could see a much bigger increase than doubles some people it might be close to their original premium depending on how much they utilize that tax credit.

But for a couple, this is based on his data based on a random kind of a sample 60 year old couple making 85 K their premium would jump by thousands of dollars 600 to roughly 2700 K. So we're talking some people will see a really huge difference in their premiums.

And for some people that mean they will, that means they'll have to go without health insurance.

That could have really big ripple effects, you know, two plans presented in the US Senate.

Neither managed to gain traction.

One Republican led, one Democrat led to extend the subsidies.

The Republican one was to create kind of a health care plan, deposit money, but not health care, plan a savings account to deposit money in directly.

But neither were able to pass.

We're at an impasse here.

>> Is that potentially a potent issue politically next year?

>> You have to imagine it is right as people literally see that hit their their checking account and they see their health care increase.

I think we're also seeing signs that people's private health insurance will increase, right.

When less people have health insurance, there's less people in the pool.

Everyone's health insurance goes up.

So I definitely think that Democrats will take advantage of this to talk about it as a talking point.

We've already seen them start doing it.

>> So Mario, on the other hand, is President Trump's $12 billion proposal for farmers, something that Republican candidates might potentially campaign on.

>> Potentially because the farming industry is a big industry in Kentucky.

And with tariffs, ongoing tariffs going on in the back and forth, there's lots of reports showing that it's negatively impacted the farming industry because they do a lot of exporting internationally on various goods.

So it'll be a strong talking point.

And do expect Republicans to be on the side of President Trump, of course.

But then Democrats will be in that conversation as well, disputing the president's claims on, you know, how this will impact positively, positively for the country.

>> Hannah let's talk about the Republican side of that US Senate race.

And, you know, all of the predictive maps are that it is likely that Republicans can hold the Kentucky seat.

How does it look like right now with candidates Cameron, Barr and Morris all fighting it out?

>> I think who potentially has the lead right now, and that could change because we're months away from the election, depends on what you're looking at.

So for example, if you're looking at the polling numbers, Cameron has consistently had the lead among him, Barr and Morris.

Now polls kind of should always be taken with a grain of salt.

And like I said, those could change in the coming months up to the election.

Another area you have is fundraising numbers.

And if you look at that, then Barr has the edge there because he has millions of dollars raised for this campaign.

And that can translate to stuff like hosting fundraisers, having TV ads, you know, really spreading his name ID out there.

And in terms of national connections, I mean, Morris has connections with Donald Trump Jr.

He he announced his campaign on his podcast.

Could that potentially lead to Trump endorsement?

We don't know, but I think depending on what you look at, look at measures who potentially has the edge.

And like I said, we're months away.

So all of these things could change leading up to the election.

>> And Hannah, she's right on with all that.

And, you know, Daniel Cameron, his campaign, they're kind of doing taking things easy, if you will, because he's got that name identification so he doesn't have to crisscross the state.

He goes to various important events that their campaign deems that are top priority.

But he doesn't need to work on the name identification.

He's already been in this statewide conversation.

But Andy Barr from Lexington, you know, he's still reintroducing himself to potential voters for Republican primary candidates.

So he's that's why he's out and about.

But the Nate Morris he's seems to be working on that Washington trying to get the Washington endorsement.

>> There's a fourth candidate in that race, Ferris from Elizabethtown.

It's hard to break through without that that that money and and name identification that might come from having served in offices previously.

>> And Washington connections, like you were saying, right?

I mean, Nate Morris, he was he's a political outsider.

I don't think most people had heard his name before he started running, but it really helps when you can get on Don Jr's podcast.

Right.

>> All right.

So we'll continue to watch the US Senate race again, two primaries there.

There will be a very interesting for voters in May.

And then of course the election next November.

Now before we get to next year and all those elections, voters in southwest Louisville will elect a new state senator next week to replace Democrat David Yates, who resigned to become the Jefferson County clerk.

Hannah three candidates in that race.

And this is one to watch.

>> Yeah.

So the Republican nominee for that race is Calvin Leach.

He's retired from the U.S.

Army and is a former legislative assistant for Metro Council.

I think one of the policy issues he has campaigned on is lowering the state income tax, which is something that, you know, the Republican Party has prioritized over the years.

Then you have Gary Clemons, who has union experience.

He's the president of a union in Louisville.

He when I talked to him, he really focused in on making the district more affordable.

As we see the rising prices of things like groceries.

And then you have Wendy Higdon, who's a libertarian and the founder of the Louisville Tea Party.

So you've got three candidates there, I think, because, you know, Yates, who previously held the seat is a Democrat.

People see Clemons as the winner.

But we'll see on Tuesday with that election.

>> Early voting has been underway.

And then Tuesday polls will be open in that special election, 6 a.m.

to 6 p.m.

Yeah.

So we'll know probably on Tuesday night.

The results there and and where things are going.

Governor Andy Beshear has started his tenure as head of the Democratic Governors Association.

He also said this week he did not run for the Senate because he didn't want to work for job that he didn't want.

So there's a rather stark comment.

Hannah is Beshear determined to maximize the opportunity that heading up a visible national association like this could bring?

>> I definitely think he is.

And, you know, as he's eyeing a presidential run, the question that he's going to have to ask is, am I do Democrat's across the country know who I am?

I think it's safe to say that, you know, Beshear is popular with the Democratic Party here in Kentucky, but do people across other Democrat states know who he is?

And I think right now we're seeing him try to build that national recognition, trying to build that name ID, and we've seen him doing this for the past, I want to say year or so.

You know, he started his own podcast.

He's making more national media appearances.

He's attending, you know, Democratic dinners in other states.

And I think he's going to continue doing that up until the 2020 presidential election.

>> And potentially a governor Beshear, his presidential aspirations, if that's what he ends up doing in 2028, are on the line, potentially depending on how these governors races are next year, since he's the head of his sole job, is to reelect Democratic governors across the country.

And I believe there's a 20 or so 20 governorships that are up.

Some are running for reelection, some are open seats.

And so if they go positively, could impact his future positively.

But if things go sideways, then that could derail him.

>> All right.

The Kentucky legislative session is coming up in just about three weeks.

For 60 days, lawmakers will work to pass a budget and discuss dozens of other issues.

Mario, the budget is the one thing that has to be done.

It is not an easy process, and lawmakers are dealing with a bit of a revenue slide.

>> They sure are.

And there's 138 lawmakers that all have their various districts that they're representing.

So they've got they're all various requests that they want to get in in front of the budget.

Chairman in the House and Senate, we've been hearing that the chairman's, Jason Petrie and also Chris McDaniel, they've been keeping things very close to the vest on their plans on how to handle the budget.

But yeah, they've got four months over that 60 day period to figure out the top priorities.

And we will see how things work out.

But they have been saying that don't expect a lot of spending extra spending requests from me dialing things back potentially.

>> I go in.

Yeah.

>> Yeah.

I'd be curious to see what the one time spending looks like in this next budget, because there was an event where I believe it was House Representative Steven Rudy that said, we will have money for some One-Time spending projects, like for infrastructure transportation, but it's not going to be as much compared to last two years ago during session.

>> Trying to avoid the long term commitments.

>> Yes.

So I think it will be interesting to see, especially in Louisville and Lexington, where lawmakers in there have consistently said we are going to advocate to bring money to our cities, what that sort of money looks like compared to the previous budget cycle.

>> Sylvia.

>> I just want to quickly note that I'm questioning the revenue slide here because we've been hearing for a little while now from Beshear and indeed, the consensus forecasting group that we might have a shortfall, but we just had some really strong receipts from November, and it's looking like it's already kind of balancing out with last year.

Now we are definitely going to have an income tax cut coming January 1st, so that'll decrease revenue.

But that was already forecasted.

That was part of our budget.

>> And we're talking about the one that is already law and will happen.

>> Exactly.

>> Then there will be discussion about whether to cut it.

Again.

>> We know that there's going to be.

Yeah.

So we're already having discussions.

>> So sports betting is bringing in some strong revenue.

We're seeing that too Mario.

More money than maybe anybody anticipated.

But is that enough to substantially impact the budget?

>> Well, in August we saw that $22 million was generated from sports betting alone.

But, you know, that's just a small sliver of money that's being generated.

So we'll see how things go there.

And I know that all the Republicans have mentioned that they plan to potentially put some parameters on Governor Beshear's allowance, if you will, for spending on state resources, just because there's been a lot of back and forth for years.

So we'll see how that all plays out.

>> We expect a lot of discussion on other issues.

We hear Pre-session chatter about housing and child care and pre-K, and it also appears there may be some renewed discussion on diversity, equity and inclusion.

Lawmakers made new laws about Dei involving higher education.

Now there's discussion about the context of K through 12 schools.

>> Indeed, educational results of Dei have shown little to no measurable improvement for the very students it was meant to serve.

A possible factor.

Many schools use curricula that are interwoven with Dei concepts and openly promote social justice as their platform to educate students.

>> Diversity is not anything that people should be afraid of.

People should not be afraid to learn about other cultures, or to learn about other religions, or those who may be differently abled, or what our history is.

>> If we cannot have our children see themselves in the curriculum, if we cannot have initiatives that recruit teachers who look like our kids, it will continue to impact student achievement.

>> Silvia, is Dei again going to be a major discussion in the legislature?

>> It's looking possible, if not likely.

It's been the discussion for a couple of years now.

They tried in 2024 to pass a ban on Dei in higher education.

Then they successfully passed it earlier this year.

Looks like we're going to repeat the conversations.

Yeah.

Repeated discussions is really what I'm looking forward to here.

>> When it comes to controversial issues.

Hannah there are some who worry about access to the legislature while the Capitol is undergoing this renovation.

>> Yeah, I think there's two parts to concerns that I talked to some advocacy and lobbying groups about.

The first concern is that there's no rotunda or like a central space for groups to host their rally days.

What they had said to me is with the rotunda, it kind of forced lawmakers to see them and to hear what they were saying.

Whereas now, as they're looking to other locations, they're away from the temporary chambers.

Lawmakers don't have to pass them to get to the chambers.

So that was one concern.

And the other concern is the lack of galleries and public access and being to view the legislative process as it happens.

And we don't know how long lawmakers will have to use temporary chambers.

So we'll have to see what that looks like over the next legislative.

>> We'll see if there are challenges or how it goes.

Kentucky's first medical marijuana dispensary is supposed to open this weekend in Beaver Dam.

It required patience for those watching for the rollout, but apparently the first legally grown and processed medical marijuana is about to be dispensed to those who qualify.

>> Yeah, looks like it's exciting.

It's been a year, if not longer in the making here.

We had the lottery process at the end of last year.

The governor was initially hopeful we could have a rollout in summer, but it has been delayed and delayed.

The the marijuana, the cannabis has to be grown in Kentucky, which definitely put a pause on things.

I think that's why it's taken us so long and everything.

The infrastructure had to really be built up, but it will be accessible soon.

>> Some positive jobs news.

Kroger, which is the nation's largest traditional grocery chain, will open a facility in Franklin in Simpson County that's set to employ more than 400 people.

Amari, obviously, a major announcement from a well known Kentucky employer.

>> It sure is.

And that distribution center will be able to prepare goods that will be available for other parts of the state of Kentucky.

>> On the other hand, some concerns or questions about what's happening at the battery plants near Elizabethtown, Ford Motor Company and South Korea's SK innovation have agreed to dissolve their U.S.

battery making joint venture, each company taking independent control.

Sylvia Ford will control the Kentucky plant.

The governor says he still has questions, right?

>> I mean, it's a huge venture.

This is $5.8 billion EV battery plant, and it's now under that sole Ford ownership.

We don't know if that's going to change anything.

Right.

They've already had some delays in opening up their second building.

And so it's really a lot of question marks right now.

The governor took aim at Brett Guthrie Representative Brett Guthrie.

And the one big beautiful bill which took away some EV tax credits, put some, took away certain tax credits from foreign owned entities.

So, you know, it's an interesting thing we have to pay attention to here now, making sure that this plant still stays on track because it's a lot of people, a lot of employment that was promised in this community.

>> All right.

We've already had some tough winter weather this season.

The forecast is for some brutally cold temperatures to wrap up the weekend and early into next week, so be sure to figure that into your plans.

We'll discuss the kids Count results that came out this week on a later program.

Some interesting findings there, but that's comment on Kentucky for this week.

Thanks for joining us and have a good week ahead.