music >> Voting this time is voting is it's it's business as usual.

[MUSIC] >> House early voting.

Look in Kentucky.

And what should you expect if you vote tomorrow or Tuesday?

>> Well, I was with a Republican legislative leader a couple of days ago who told me, he said, I don't really know what's going to happen.

This is the craziest political environment I've seen.

[MUSIC] >> Our experts say there are so many close elections.

No one knows what to expect.

>> It's part of a celebration of the Breeders Cup and the equine industry here.

But also it's a celebration of the arts.

>> How local artists are showcasing their talents.

In honor of the Breeders Cup.

>> Production of Kentucky Edition is made possible in part by the KET Millennium Fund.

>> Good evening and welcome to Kentucky Edition for Friday, October 30th.

I'm Marvin Bartlett.

Thanks for joining us.

We're headed into the final weekend before Election Day.

This was the second of three days of early voting across Kentucky.

And by all accounts, turnout is up.

Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams says nearly 136,000 ballots were cast yesterday.

That's compared to about 82,000 during the 2022 midterms.

But unlike 2022, more Democrats voted Thursday than Republicans.

Tomorrow is the final day of early voting.

Today, we caught up with Fayette County Clerk Susan Lamb.

She says voters in Lexington are waiting in line for about an hour to vote.

>> It's exciting.

We had 7300 voters at our six libraries yesterday in the 2022 midterm.

We didn't have but one vote center, and so we had 8546 total votes all three days in 2022.

So obviously yesterday, with 7300, we're going to far surpass our number.

But we are anxiously awaiting to see how that turns out.

It's exciting.

I know we had about an hour wait yesterday, but that's pretty much what we anticipated with the long ballot, with the polling stopping at 430.

You know, of course, the election officers go and find where the back of the line is at 430, and that's where we stop.

And so we didn't actually some of the branches didn't close until closer to 530.

So, you know, it's it's right at about an hour.

But that's, you know, it's I'm glad people are being patient and I'm glad the weather is nice.

And of course, the libraries are wonderful partners in all of this.

Trying to make sure that the lines are in a safe space when people have to wait outside to get inside the libraries.

>> Clerk Lamb says her office did receive reports of electioneering outside some polling places yesterday.

Deputies were sent to those locations and asked individuals to move.

She also says she's grateful for the presence of federal election monitors in Fayette County, something she says has never happened.

During her time as clerk.

>> I know a lot of people are concerned with it, but I really welcome them because they are here to specifically look at our Ada compliance within our voting locations, and the other is about provisional ballots, which is such a it's I don't know, it's a, it's it's a complicated provisional ballots are just not it's a complicated process, but they're here to make sure that we're complying with anything federally related.

And I welcome the feedback.

In fact, I've already set up a meeting with them after the election so that we can learn if there are any issues that they saw when they're here.

I want our voters to know that, you know, voting this time is voting is it's it's business as usual.

The the voters don't have to choose to speak with anybody.

If someone approaches you, you, you can choose not to respond to them.

And that's okay.

I don't want our voters feeling like they're being intimidated or harassed or anything of that nature.

And I don't think that's the intention of the monitors.

>> Yesterday, we showed you a Republican rally with candidates Andy Barr and Ralph Alvarado.

Today we were in Louisville for a Democratic rally.

Union leaders say Charles Booker is their choice for U.S.

Senate.

>> Do you all believe Kentucky is worth fighting for?

[APPLAUSE] Working people are worth fighting for.

Do you believe change is worth fighting for?

I'm going to make sure that your jobs are protected, that your benefits are protected, and that your voice is protected because that's what you've done for me and my family.

We're going to go to Washington, cause good trouble together.

[APPLAUSE] >> Yes.

>> Yes, we are.

>> Booker's won endorsements from steel, and auto workers and the Kentucky chapter of AfL-CIO, which says Booker's opponent, Republican Congressman Andy Barr, has voted with labor just 9% of the time.

These unions have raised money and knocked on doors for Booker.

Barr has won support from two railroad workers unions.

Ken Martin, the chair of the Democratic National Committee, showed up at the rally to.

In his continuing campaign and otherwise unlikely red states.

Jacqueline Coleman also stumped for Booker today.

>> As a Kentuckian, I'm grateful that we're seeing national attention and national support because a lot of times Kentucky gets counted out.

We get talked over, we get talked about or disregarded.

And I understand Mitch McConnell's been there forever.

Trump won by over 30 points.

There's this outside looking in assumption that changes are possible here.

But there's a reason we have an administration, the Beshear Coleman administration, has been one of the most popular in the country.

There's a reason that we have working people across the board, folks who voted for Trump standing with me, a black man from the West End of Louisville, is because when you treat people like they matter, and when you do the work, you have a coalition that's ready to fight for you.

>> The DNC chair said he's visited other red states, including Kansas and Florida, before arriving in Kentucky.

Last night, Governor Andy Beshear made two stops on the campaign trail to support Democratic candidates.

Beshear was in Louisville with Charles Booker, but first, he made a stop in Lexington.

The governor joined Zach Dembo for a get out the vote rally, urging voters to elect Dembo in the race for sixth Congressional District.

He told voters the country is watching this race to see if Congress could be flipped to a Democratic majority.

>> Y'all know there are polls close at 6:00 eastern time, and that means when people are saying what's going to happen on election night, we could be the very first, this sixth Congressional District could be the first House seat flipped.

Democrat one.

>> Election.

>> Dembo, who is a Navy veteran and former federal prosecutor, is up against Republican Ralph Alvarado.

Alvarado is a doctor and former state senator and Tennessee Department of Health commissioner.

Several national pundits have shifted this race from the leans Republican category to toss up.

We asked Dembo about that change and what it would take for him to pull out a victory in a district.

President Trump won by 15 points.

>> I think it started out as solid Republican, and now it's toss up.

Look, when we win this, what I'm going to take that as that doesn't mean that all of a sudden it's blue or democratic.

This has never been a Democratic or Republican seat.

It's a bunch of common sense folks who supported common sense ideas like Team Kentucky to the tune of 20 points.

And when the governor got reelected, it was Democrats, independents and Republicans that got him there.

That's the same movement that's going to propel our campaign to success.

>> Several other high profile Democrats were at Dembos rally last night, including Lieutenant Governor Jacqueline Coleman and Rocky Adkins.

The two announced Democratic candidates for governor in 2027.

>> Time now to go inside Kentucky politics.

Our two political pundits, Trey Grayson and Bob Babbage, are here to do that with us.

Gentlemen, in just a few days, you all will be over at the studio desk breaking down the results as they come in on election night.

We're almost there.

But let's talk about the last weekend that we have until we get there.

I want to start out first.

The only statewide race that's on the ballot, of course, is the U.S.

Senate.

We've got Republican Andy Barr taking on Democrat Charles Booker.

But what I want to ask you about is that we've seen quite a bit recently.

Barr is out campaigning with Ralph Alvarado, who's running in the sixth Congressional.

Now, many times, almost every time when we see them together, we hear very little about the Senate race.

But we hear Andy Barr really just talking about the sixth district race.

Is Barr that confident in his victory that he can now put his time and energy into the sixth and kind of pull Alvarado along to victory?

>> Yes.

I mean, yes, you know, as soon as as soon as the primary was settled, when we were talking about it over, across the way in the studio, and it became Barr versus Booker, that race was over and it's been over.

Booker has struggled to raise money.

He has struggled to get attention.

You know, there's a lot of conversation about this Election Day being a great day for Democrats across the country.

There's a bunch of Republican held Senate seats that are that are being contested.

Democrats might pick up.

This has never been part of any conversation.

So yeah, so Barr is extraordinarily confident he should be.

And it's actually a little bit of a shame for the Democrats that they haven't been able to use a Senate, a competitive Senate race to bolster their chances for down the rest of the ticket.

And it is one of the things that has helped Republicans is knowing you're going to win this race and you've got this candidate.

But the downside is we're not trying really, really hard to knock on every last door because, you know you're going to win the Senate race.

>> Would you agree, Bob?

>> It's been slanted to Barr from the night of the primaries.

The question will be, does Barr win by a McConnell or Rand Paul like margin?

I think Rand Paul be Booker by more than 20 points.

Senator McConnell won consistently by like 20%.

So we'll watch for that.

But Barr in the sixth district is is home for him.

So any Republican group that's gathered of regular voters, those are Barr voters.

Historically, almost 100%.

So he's spiking his own vote while he helps a colleague and try to keep the seat read.

>> Well, let's talk a little bit more about the sixth district.

Something really interesting I saw last night NBC sat down with their director of elections, and they asked, okay, tell us just a couple races could be across the whole country.

That could be indicators for maybe how the rest of the night goes.

The number one answer from that director of Elections, KY six.

Very interesting.

So we're definitely beyond the national scale there.

Let's talk about for Alvarado and Democrat Zach Dembo, what for each of them, what is the path to victory here?

Trey, you want to start it?

>> So so Trump won that seat by 15 points two years ago.

Now that's a different electorate, a different time and a bigger electorate.

But this is a seat that, as Bob pointed out, had Andy Barr has been running in that seat since 2010, has held it since 2012.

So for Alvarado, it's making sure that the folks who voted Republican consistently for Andy Barr show up and vote and vote for him.

So it's it's making sure that a lot of that suburban.

Because where this is where this is really helped is in the suburban outside of Fayette County.

So Scott County, Madison County, those Jessamine County where you've seen growth and that growth has become Republican voters.

So it needs to make sure that those folks go to the polls.

And, and vote for him.

>> What do you think, Bob?

And are people getting out in the polls, too?

I want to ask you, I mean, what are we seeing?

>> We're seeing long lines today.

This is taping on Thursday, first day of early vote, very long lines around Lexington.

People were shopping libraries to find the shortest line and the quickest way.

>> That's a good sign for Dumbo.

>> Very good sign for Dumbo.

Dumbo a year ago wasn't even a conversation point on this show, so he emerged in that primary very well.

He's run a smart campaign.

He's had some ads that were funny and fun and raised the money, significant amount of money.

Although I think President Trump's group has put over $1 million in the race, and a lot of outside groups have weighed in here, but it's considered very close.

And in a bunch of polls, not many undecideds.

Oftentimes in history, we've seen a midterm go against the sitting president, not necessarily a permanent thing, but a message at that time, Moody said.

Average family spent $2,000 this year.

When it ends on prices that went up, particularly the essentials that we get, those kinds of things bother people.

Will it bother them enough to come and vote in a different way, or will they just pass and say, I'll wait till next time?

>> So besides CD six, which of course now has been classified as a toss up, any other potential surprises?

When we talk about state races, any other things that you're keeping your eyes on?

>> Well, I was with a Republican legislative leader a couple days ago who told me, he said, I don't really know what's going to happen.

This is the craziest political environment I've seen.

There aren't that many competitive legislative races.

Part of that's just the nature of a lot of districts, and there wasn't a big push by the governor to recruit candidates.

He was busy running for president.

But Julia Roberts Adams has a very tough race against a former Jefferson County school board member in Jefferson.

That's probably the top race.

Lindsey Tichenor just up the road in Oldham County, first time running for reelection.

She's in a tough race in the House races.

You know, you've got a couple House races, one in central Kentucky where killing Timothy is trying to come back and go defeat Adam Moore, who won it over.

The guy who beat him in the primary, Stephanie Dietz up in northern Kentucky, always seems to have a tough race.

And there's, you know, Susan Witten in Jefferson County also seems to always have a tough race.

These are Republicans who are representing districts that swing a little bit.

So we'll have to see how this plays out.

Bob, am I missing any of the ones that you think.

>> About the race just from a briefing today?

Yeah.

Beshear won that race about 62% or one.

That area, that district in the Adam Moore Kelly and Timothy Trump won 51%.

Adam Moore won by 50.3, not against Timothy, but against Jefferson last time.

But Beshear won it 61.

So you've got districts that don't always vote party.

And given the dynamics in polling, people are mad at the establishment.

They're mad at incumbents.

They're mad at people who control things, and they're mad about prices.

A lot of those things can't be fixed real easily, except voting your your emotions.

And they may.

If they do, then the house nationally could go Democratic.

And first up could be ours or not.

Right here in Central Kentucky.

And that's what Nashville people are going to draw from.

If Alvarado wins, they'll say, it's not going to be so bad for Republicans.

If Denver wins, they're going to say, here comes the difference.

>> The blue wave, right?

>> Yeah.

You know, my suspicion is will probably see a handful of House Republicans and Senate Republicans lose.

That doesn't change.

The trajectory doesn't change much of the composition, 80% in both chambers.

So that's a little bit on the margins.

But I suspect on Tuesday night that's what we're going to see.

I just don't know who that's going to be.

>> All right.

Sounds like we have some surprises in store for us, right?

Tuesday night should be a fun night.

>> Everybody.

>> Absolutely.

All right.

Well thank you all for stopping in.

We will see you on election night.

Thank you.

>> Thank you.

Emily.

Join KET Monday night at 8:00 eastern, seven central for a special edition of Kentucky.

Tonight, as we preview the midterm election in Kentucky.

Then join us Tuesday night at 7:00 eastern for our election coverage with host Laura Rogers and our regular panel of Kentucky political experts.

Tonight, the KET family is remembering CEO and Executive Director Shea Hopkins.

She died last night following a brief but courageous battle with cancer.

A native Kentuckian, Hopkins dedicated 40 years to KET, including 17 years as the network's leader.

Under her leadership, KET expanded its commitment to telling Kentucky stories, navigated major changes in technology and broadcasting, and strengthened educational resources for teachers and students across the Commonwealth.

Hopkins also oversaw the creation of the Kentucky Channel, as well as new production facilities in Lexington, Louisville and the Kentucky capital.

A message to KET staff today said, quote, while Shea will be remembered for many accomplishments during her 40 years at KET, to those of us here, she will be remembered most for the strength, warmth, humor and grace she brought to KET.

She believed deeply in what we do and in the people who make it possible.

Her impact on KET and on all of us is immeasurable.

She had announced plans to retire earlier this year.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

[MUSIC] More than 50 jockey forms sit on Kentucky bourbon barrels as part of the Breeders Cup Festival in downtown Lexington.

A canvas of silks is the work of local artists who designed and painted the sculptures ahead of the annual World Horse Racing event.

The project, by Lex Arts will help support the Non-profit's programs and grants.

[MUSIC] >> Lexmark has been here for 50 years, and we've really helped grow the public art scene here in Lexington.

And Canvas of Silks is a great example of that.

Helping artists display their works by providing a blank canvas to the artists.

In this case, it's a jockey form, and it felt very timely to celebrate Breeders Cup and Breeders Cup Festival.

We were so excited to bring this project to the community and we activated 54 artists, created original works and celebration of the Breeders Cup coming to town.

So this is been been really a fantastic way to highlight the artistry and creative talent here in Lexington.

>> I just love being involved with the horse.

Any project that has to do with horses.

So I was like, I definitely got to do that.

I love to paint, but I wanted to be a part of it because again, I grew up with horse racing, my family, my parents actually met as they were grooms and hot walkers.

So that's how their love story happened.

And then there came me.

And then it's just part of my life.

>> The title is The Blue Rider, and it's based on a painting I did called The Blue Rider, and it's inspired by Paleolithic paintings with In the Old Cave Days, and I call it caveman meets Andy Warhol.

>> There is everything from nature to the equine industry to bourbon as well, to, you know, just the vibrant colors, heritage, different celebration of culture.

And so this is, you know, a chance for the artist to really tell a bit about themselves through their, through their selected themes.

>> They monarch, the butterfly here in the center, in the heart is because all the immigrants have to have, like me, we have to get like a kind of metamorphosis.

We had to convert ourselves and new people to be here in this country, to move from our countries and to function here.

Learning from the culture here and learning the new language, learning everything we have to change.

>> I was actually born in Chicago, where I grew up, seeing a lot of street art, so I love to do things where like, it looks pretty and bright and bold.

I made sure I did lilies and horse racing, but also I kind of did a touch of graffiti where I spray paint like Hart because I love to always show like love, because I feel like I always do my artwork with a touch of Amor Amor because I do it with lots of love.

>> Art is integral to our quality of life.

You know?

It's art is the things from a culture that are left behind for us to know about that culture.

And so it is a document of a of a moment.

It's also, you know, one of the power of the arts can transcend this beautiful object.

It's the experience of making it, the experience of sharing with another person.

Your expression and the connection that happens when we have that shared experience.

>> What is amaze me in this project is every single silk is totally different to another one.

And represent our, our, our personality, our beliefs, our thoughts, our background.

So it's kind of the melting pot, you know, it's represent every single artist over here.

And also where we come from.

>> It's, it's part of a celebration of the British Cup and the equine industry here, but also it's a celebration of the arts.

The arts are part of who we are.

The arts, the visual arts are.

It's very political because it could be understood in any language.

You don't have to have a degree in philosophy, a degree, and any language to understand our silks.

You just come and look at it and it's going to speak to you.

And that's very, very powerful.

>> All of the artists were paid a $500 stipend, the auction to purchase a Silk End Sunday at noon.

[MUSIC] Before you make your Halloween weekend plans, check out your options.

As our Toby Gibbs tells you what's up around the Commonwealth.

>> Food trucks are rolling into Madisonville, and this time they're bringing a little trick or treating along for the ride.

The Bluegrass Food Truck Festival returns to Madisonville this Saturday, with food trucks serving a wide variety of dishes.

The Halloween themed event includes a trunk or treat for children, along with live music vendors, carnival rides, games and other activities.

Admission is free.

The Halloween Spirit will be on full display at Carter Caves, where even the campsites are dressing up for the occasion.

Carter Caves State Resort Park in Olive Hill is hosting a Halloween campground celebration with activities including costume, campsite decorating and pumpkin decorating contests.

[MUSIC] The evening wraps up with trick or treating throughout the campground.

Henderson is bringing the day of the dead to life with a colorful celebration.

Dia de Los Muertos takes place this Sunday and highlights the Mexican tradition of honoring those who have passed on.

Activities include a children's parade, mariachi music, face painting and other traditions.

Livingston County is flipping the switch on the holiday season more than a million times over.

Patty's Festival of Lights returns to Grand Rivers with more than a million lights illuminating Patty's 1880s settlement.

The free walk through display includes holiday decorations throughout the historic shopping and dining area, from garden to table.

A Harrodsburg festival is getting back to the roots of food production, heritage Food Fest at Terrapin Hill Farm focuses on traditional food growing, preparation and preservation methods.

[MUSIC] The event also includes workshops and demonstrations on gardening, wildcrafting, fermentation, herbal medicine and homesteading.

[MUSIC] Participants can also learn about traditional Appalachian foodways, seed saving and techniques for producing food at home.

The festival kicks off next Friday.

The calendar may still say November, but Christmas is already setting up shop in Bowling Green at the Gypsy Moon.

Christmas Marketplace.

The three day event features more than 85 vendors selling gifts, handmade goods and other merchandise, and also includes food, live music and an appearance by Santa Claus.

The written word is taking center stage in Louisville as a pioneering group of poets celebrates a milestone.

[MUSIC] The Frazier Kentucky History Museum is marking the 35th anniversary of the Appalachian Poets, one of the nation's longest running predominantly African American writing groups.

[MUSIC] Founding member in Kentucky, writer Frank X Walker will discuss the group's history, followed by poetry readings from members of the collective.

The program also includes a reception and book signing, and that's a look at what's happening around the Commonwealth.

[MUSIC] I'm Toby Gibbs.

>> Bill Bryant and his panel of reporters talk about next Tuesday's elections in one hour on comment on Kentucky, right here on KET.

Join us all next week for Kentucky Edition at 630 eastern, 530 central.

Subscribe to our Kentucky Edition email newsletters and watch full episodes and clips@ket.org.

Send us story ideas at Public affairs@ket.org and follow KET on Facebook, and Instagram.

To stay in the loop.

I'm Marvin Bartlett, thanks for joining us.

Have a great weekend.