But Republicans talk historical trends in the hard fought race for Congress in central Kentucky.

Economists forecast lower revenue growth for Kentucky, but Governor Beshear says there is enough for some of his priorities.

Western Kentucky leaders fly to Washington to talk projects and policies.

The state treasurer spends the week traveling the state and returning lost money and valuables heading into the last weekend of September.

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 Alex Acquisto politics and health reporter for the Lexington Herald-Leader.

Mario Anderson, anchor and host of In Focus Kentucky on Spectrum News one.

And joining us virtually is Todd Faulkner, anchor for PTSD Local six in Paducah.

Also tonight, a judge strikes down a state law that would have forced a school board chairman off the November ballot.

We have a lot to talk about tonight.

Let's begin with politics and the sixth district congressional race in Kentucky continuing to draw attention.

Democrat Zach Dembo faces Republican Ralph Alvarado for the seat that Andy Barr is leaving open as he runs for the Senate.

Let's look at some video of some of the latest ads from the candidates in that race.

>> Anyone who's been to a grocery store knows Kentuckians need lower prices, not tax hikes.

My plan puts real money back in your pocket.

>> Zach Dembo served his country in the Navy and put violent criminals behind bars at the Justice Department.

Ralph Alvarado.

He served Matt Bevin as his running mate.

>> So the sixth, which is essentially Lexington and Central Kentucky.

As far as the district, was carried by Donald Trump by 15 points in 2024.

But Andy Beshear carried it by 19 points in 2023.

So, Mario, this looks to be a battleground.

>> It sure is.

There's been a lot of attention on this race, especially as sentiment is shifting a little bit on Donald Trump and the president and kind of some where his approval rating stands.

So that's trickling down to the individual states, including in Kentucky.

And there's been a lot of investment on the financial side from outside groups.

We're seeing both candidates ramp up their social media presence and their ads on TV, but we're starting to see those PACs start weighing in as well.

The DCCC, on behalf of the Democrats, or they have invested in a congressional race for the sixth district since back in 2018, when Amy McGrath was on the they are now zoning in Andy Beshear's PAC is also very involved with donating or contributing money as well.

But there's a lot of attention on kind of where things stand, and also those undecided voters in a general election.

I know we've talked about before, there's about 70,000 or so of those, the independent independent voters that could have a very big impact on the final results come that first Tuesday of November.

>> You know, Governor Beshear has been investing through his PAC, and he seems to have a lot of interest in that, as if it could be a feather in his cap.

Maybe going forward, if Democrats were able to take that seat.

>> Absolutely.

And he just days after Zach Dembo became the nominee for the seat on behalf of the Democrats, Andy Beshear was quick to do the official endorsement and doing a Ko joint appearance with Zach Dembo.

And they've done a couple of different appearances over the course of this general election season.

And he was also quick to endorse Zach Dembo very early for this race, before he officially came out to say something for Charles Booker as well.

So Andy Beshear is definitely all the way in on Zach Dembo.

And Zach Dembo is a former employee of the Beshear administration, serving as a former policy adviser.

So close connections there.

>> Well, and the sixth, as we said, anchored by Lexington, which trends blue in its voting, and then the surrounded by other counties that often vote Republican.

Dimbo obviously trying to keep focus on the prices.

And so on, Alvarado pointing out and his team that the district still trends Republican.

>> And it does.

And what's interesting is that both candidates know that the district is flippable from Republican to Democrat.

Alvarado has a slight leg up just because of the fact that he is a Republican.

But even in the clip that you played, you know, him talking about grocery and gas prices is a very bipartisan thing.

Arguably moderate thing, especially because the Republican administration at the federal level has contributed to that rise in prices.

And so it's interesting because they're both sort of doing the thing that you would expect in Alvarado's ads.

He's going after Dimbo when he was a federal prosecutor, saying that he unfairly prosecuted police officers.

Jimbo's going after Alvarado when he was a state senator, saying that he passed state level bills that benefited his industry owning nursing homes.

But they're both sort of staying sort of the middle of the road message that they know widely appeals to voters well aware that this could be a flippable district.

>> You note they don't mention parties in either one.

You know, it's interesting.

And just talking to some voters in the district, some are confused as to who is who.

>> I think that's sort of the point.

You could watch that.

Alvarado ad and listen to it without knowing that he's a Republican and think, yeah, I want lower gas prices.

Yes.

I also want to pay less for groceries.

And maybe you would be surprised that he's a Republican.

It's definitely a strategy.

>> Todd from your perspective, watching from out there in Western Kentucky, do those in the know seem to feel that the sixth district race is the one to watch in Kentucky?

>> It's one to watch, and I think it's one that is Flippable.

And I've talked to folks who believe that that is possible, that Denbow could take it.

I think it's also notable that Alvarado is distancing himself from the Trump administration over the last couple of months, removing references to the president and a picture of him on the president on on his website.

So it's one to be watched, and it will be very interesting to see.

>> And it has been so far, the one thing, while these candidates are definitely at each other, no doubt about it.

And not only their own campaigns, but the various PAC ads and so on, there is no debate scheduled in this race.

>> That's right.

Both candidates agreed to appear at separate debate locations, but not with with each other.

I know that the campaign has said that they are going to agree to appear on KET, but also on KET on the the gray Media family Ralph Alvarado his team agreed to appear on Spectrum News one, but a lot of back and forth and we're down to those final 40 days or less.

So every every decision is very highly criticized within their campaigns.

And, you know, we'll see if they actually decide to change at the last second to appear together.

But right now it's at a standstill.

And they won't be appearing on a debate stage together.

>> And I believe I saw this.

I don't entirely know if it's 100% correct, but if they don't have a debate, I believe it will be the first time since around 2012 that two candidates for this district have not debated.

>> At least when there's been a competitive race.

Right.

Yeah.

No doubt.

So, you know, and and you would think they would.

Right.

>> Well, sure.

Why not?

It's definitely an opportunity to showcase yourself, especially in such a high stakes district.

But everybody has their reasons.

>> And I'll act quickly to.

They did appear one time together at the Chamber of Commerce event, a policy luncheon where they.

It was more of a form, not debate, and it was very friendly.

People said, this is a. They're refreshing to hear two candidates just talk together and.

There was no back and forth, much, you know, not feisty, but that was before everything ramped up to where we are today.

>> Yeah, well, they're both good on policy, you know, discussion.

So you would you would as you said, you would think they would think their strengths would would shine.

But we'll see.

All right.

This weekend there was to be a Patriot's Day freedom Fest in Northern Kentucky.

It was to feature kid Rock and some other conservative speakers.

Organizer Eric Dieter said he didn't sell enough VIP tickets, so he canceled it.

Mario Dieter seems frustrated by the lack of the VIP ticket sales.

>> That's right.

He was hoping that with kid Rock as the headliner and also Duane Dog the bounty hunter as the co-headliners there to be able to help draw in interest for this big event.

But unfortunately, from the reports out there, there are only six VIP tickets sold and they were going for about $1,000.

And Dieter, he mentioned that he was hoping to use that money to cover those costs and the production costs, but now he says that, yeah, it's not happening.

And he doesn't plan to host this again in the future.

>> And it's interesting too, because this is not the first time, maybe the first time in Kentucky, but it's not the first time that a sort of VIP Trump heavy event, maybe even with kid Rock as a headliner, ticket sales haven't panned out.

You know, even in DC with sort of like big things that Trump has himself advertised, attendance has just been low.

And that's what we're seeing here too.

>> In the race to replace Senator Mitch McConnell, who is stepping down at the end of the year, Republican Andy Barr and Democrat Charles Booker are battling it out.

Is there is there much talk about the Senate race out in the in the Jackson purchase now?

I mean, they were there for Fancy Farm and it was a loud and lively.

>> They were at Fancy Farm.

And of course, prior to that, the primaries.

That's when it was really big.

And a lot of media ad time.

Bye by ad time.

But things have quieted down since Fancy Farm, to be very honest.

And the candidates have not been in this part of the state.

>> Mario, is it is it, you know, good for Barr that it's quiet right now?

A little over a month away from the voting?

>> That's right.

He's just transitioning his campaign to more of more of a biographical showcasing him and his family.

While the ads that we're seeing now are positive ads and just kind of sticking to showing who he is and his Kentucky roots.

And I think that's kind of the theme he's wanting to maybe coast into that until Election Day.

And again, also on a debate side, only agreeing to do one debate.

So just let me limiting that one appearance and seeing how things shake out.

>> Barr obviously has the money advantage and some trend advantages.

But Alex, is Booker breaking through on some of the issues that he's trying to press so hard?

The affordability, data centers, health care.

>> It's hard to say because a lot of Booker's platform are issues that appeal to a variety of voters.

His stuff on data centers is animating voters, Republican and Democrat, across Kentucky.

But is he getting out there as much as Barr?

Does he still have the name recognition?

We really don't know.

It's really hard to run a campaign even when your messaging is maybe sort of middle, more middle of the road.

It's really hard to compete with a lot of money.

And that's what Barr has.

>> Understandable that he would hope Booker would hope his strength would be the urban areas, but is he traveling outside the urban area as much?

Mario.

>> It appears very limited.

His campaign has sent out some updates every couple of weeks, showing where he's going to be appearing.

And it's usually 2 or 3 locations that are not statewide.

Or there may be one location that's not really a regional location, but he's ramping up his national interviews that he's doing.

And but again, time will tell.

As always, to see how that actually trickles down to votes when it comes to November.

>> The date of senator debates have been raging across Kentucky.

There's been a lot of pushback.

Lexington bass Bray construction is one of the largest data center builders in the country, and they've been at it for years.

The company's CEO, Stephen Gray, and their vice president for data centers, Ben Burchett, talked with me and acknowledged transparency has become a problem for many localities where tech companies have pushed them to sign non-disclosure agreements.

>> We've seen a little bit of that, and I can just, you know, as as I look to the future, I just think that that those relationships have in the early stages need to be more transparent.

>> I have seen a lot of a lot of confidentiality around their designs.

There's there's a lot of competition for this.

And I believe there's a lot of fear with those companies just to ensure that their designs don't get out to the public.

>> Alex, we talked about the suspicion that many residents already have about data centers and the things that they have heard.

Many say that information is hard to come by, especially when these nondisclosure agreements are signed by their local officials who then can't talk to them about what might happen in their community, despite the fact that they elected them.

Virginia recently banned nondisclosure agreements involving data centers.

>> And if I had to guess, I would assume that some policy maker at the state level in Kentucky will file a bill to that end next session, whether or not it get passed gets passed remains to be seen.

As Ben said, it is common, and there is a reason why data centers keep some of these things secret.

Sheer competitiveness is one.

But as data centers animate the general public across the political spectrum, people are concerned about it.

For what will it do to impact their utility bills?

The sheer acreage that these data centers take up noise pollution, and it's very disheartening when communities figure out that their local officials have signed NDAS to start the process of building these.

And these communities have no say up until, you know, it's almost too late in some ways.

So I think that we are going to see increasing pressure from communities, maybe even from lawmakers, to have more transparency up front because people are upset about it.

>> Yeah, it'll be interesting to see if that is included in any bill or bills that come forward in the legislature.

Todd it is also interesting that the Paducah area seems largely to, you know, and I said largely to embrace the data center, that massive project that is proposed for the gaseous diffusion plant.

>> It's in contrast to a lot of communities all across the nation who are against them.

In fact, the majority of folks and elected officials here are embracing the data center that was announced this summer.

The Paducah American Energy Hub.

And that's not to say that there aren't groups or people that are pushing back and have questions, but those who are on the fence as they learn more.

At least in this part of the state, are on board.

>> And this week you traveled out to Washington with some Paducah area business leaders and community leaders.

What are your takeaways from that visit?

>> That's right.

I think this is the 11th or 12th year that I go with the Paducah Chamber during their DC fly in and report on the progress that they make.

And you're looking at some of the photos.

It's the biggest delegation yet.

92 people and they meet with agencies and cabinets and lawmakers, including Representative and Senator Paul, among others.

The big takeaway, though, of course, in the context of the the data center is the meeting that they had with the Department of Energy, where they discussed the ongoing cleanup and funding at the Department of Energy Paducah site.

They discussed the data center that's coming in, along with the two companies out there that are in development G, L, E and general matter.

And what that property is going to look like moving forward in the next ten, 20, 30 years.

>> Did people get to ask their questions and did they get answers?

>> They did.

There was a discussion and there are a few key people in the group that can specifically ask questions.

And they did get answers.

And it's a time.

Does the DC fly in?

Every year is an opportunity for the chamber to speak with one voice.

They carry the same message.

They're all on board.

And over the years they've gotten millions, if not billions of dollars for projects.

You know, over the last decade and Representative Kummer, even joked with the group that they're one of the best chambers in the state.

And you wouldn't believe the number of chambers that come up here to DC, ask for money and never get it.

Whereas our region has gotten money over the years for the riverfront development, for the DOE site, for the lock and dams.

I mean, the list goes on and on.

>> I know it was on the itinerary to meet with Senator Mitch McConnell, and that did not work out right.

>> It did not.

And again, I've been doing this covering them for many years.

And there's always a congressional reception.

And Senator McConnell shows up.

Maybe it's for two minutes, maybe it's for ten minutes, and addresses the crowd.

Of course, we know that he's been seen a handful of times since his return to the Hill.

He did not attend the reception in his place.

He sent his chief of staff, Terry Carmack, who addressed the delegation and discussed what the senator has done for the region but did not mention his health at all.

And greeted the crowd.

>> Also a major story out of Western Kentucky this week.

Ballard and McCracken counties.

The first two counties to receive the distinction of being nuclear ready right.

>> That's right.

And that's really something that's a feather in our cap.

And I'm going to read the name of the group that voted in favor of doing so.

It's called the Kentucky Nuclear Energy Development Authority.

And they signed off on Ballard and McCracken being the first two counties in the entire state of Kentucky to be nuclear ready.

And so that's that's something that's pretty important.

And part of the overall plan for energy under the Trump administration.

So said Representative Comer.

>> All right.

Before we stray far away from politics, let's look ahead to the governor's race next year.

It is getting going before the midterms can be settled.

Mario Democrats, Rocky Adkins and the lieutenant governor, Jacqueline Coleman, traveling the state hard.

What are you watching?

>> Well, we continue to watch.

Both candidates are very quick to announce the endorsements that they've been each receiving since they've entered this campaign, but also we'll be watching the morning after the elections that Wednesday morning, after the Tuesday election, to see where the candidates start shifting this campaign narrative, and also, they're going to start continuing to try to get more money to go towards this election cycle.

That's coming up, because all attention will be on who will be the official Democratic nominee and how that all shakes out come next year.

>> And on the Republican side, Congressman James Comer wants to win another term in the House.

But he's showing up all over the state.

And Todd, you know, it's interesting that you are campaigning to win a House seat that's largely Western Kentucky, but he showed up a lot in eastern Kentucky this week.

>> Yeah.

When you end up going to places that are outside of your district, you know that that's a sign that you're hoping for something a little bigger.

And again, just this week when I was in D.C.

I asked him probably for the seventh time, you you're running for another another term, but you're not running to be committee chair.

Is that yet another sign that you're going to make a bid for governor?

And he said, well, it's the same answer.

Going to make a decision after the midterms and announce something.

>> The sort of same answer we're getting from Governor Beshear.

Mario, who says who has to leave a year from December, the governor's office and everybody knows that he has at least said to be considering a run for the white House, made appearances this week.

CBS Sunday Morning there was a profile by Newsweek.

Is Beshear getting the kind of attention now that is putting him on the national radar?

>> It depends on who you talk with.

Democrats will say absolutely, yes.

Republicans will say no there.

That's that's that's not it's not really relevant.

But yeah, he was doing multiple appearances in Washington, DC.

Also, the New York area as well.

This week, he had his a 13 stop tour across several states, including some of those early presidential candidate presidential voting locations, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

And being in front of those crowds.

But he's there to talk about his book, not to talk about running for president or talk about, you know, his personal stake, but sharing why he wants to change the narrative for national politics and have a democratic voice.

But he's been very adamant, kind of teasing that he does believe a Democratic governor should be the one leading the charge.

>> We'll see where it goes from here.

Right.

Word came this week from, yeah, go ahead.

>> You know, I think he's taking the approach of quiet and steady wins the race.

And I think I said on your show a couple of months ago that when you run for president, you got to do a couple things.

You got to kiss baby, shake hands and write a book.

He's written a book, and now he's visiting states all over the United States.

So I think quiet and steady wins the race here for him.

>> Word came this week from the economic forecasters, the Kentucky's revenue is likely to grow by 5.7% in the fiscal year 2027, then less than half a percent the following year.

But Governor Beshear notes the money will be up some.

Here's a clip from the forecasting group's meeting in Frankfort.

>> I would probably go with the pessimistic model because our pessimistic model still has this increasing revenues by 5.7.

You know, that's like my daughter getting a pony instead of a horse.

I don't really call this pessimistic at all.

So if I went with pessimistic, it would be more on the numbers as opposed to like, I think we're going to crash and burn.

>> All right.

So Mario, here's this more pessimistic view by some.

But Governor Beshear says, well, the revenues up some and let's spend that on his priorities.

Namely, he wants to he says, close the Medicaid gap, as he calls it.

>> Right.

And the Republicans in the General Assembly have different thoughts there.

Saying that, again, because of their policies, their bills or laws that have been put into the books.

That's why those numbers are up and they want to kind of see how things play out and want to wait until they get back into session to be able to further review this.

And they also push back on the use of the governor trying to use some of the money he has at his disposal to, to do some of that.

>> Franklin circuit judge this week struck down part of Senate Bill four, which was designed to keep school employees in other districts from running for school board in Jefferson and Fayette County's.

It turns out it only impacted Fayette County School Board Chairman Tyler Murphy this time around, who sued along with the Kentucky Education Association.

>> The work of public education does take a village.

It takes all of us working together and let's stop this sniping back and forth and these political games and just focus on what matters.

And that is our students.

>> So Murphy says he was targeted.

Even one of his opponents said the the ruling is correct.

But she said the district's financial problems invited state scrutiny, and that may be in part, why the law was passed.

>> That's right.

And Tyler Murphy, he was very adamant from day one that he disagreed with this law that was, he felt was unfairly targeting him.

He, on his own with attorneys and other people, filed this legal matter there and then said he was vindicated, that the courts ruled in his favor.

Governor Beshear spoke out in support of Tyler Murphy.

Again, he's the board chair of Fayette County Public Schools, but he's a full time teacher in Boyle County.

He's been doing that for many years.

But it's very active around Fayette County, and he's has a general election candidate for November.

So we'll see how his seat, how his race plays out.

>> This was called Unclaimed Property Week in Kentucky.

The Treasurer's office traveled all over looking to return money and valuables that his office is holding of Todd.

Metcalfe says he's returned a record amount of money.

I'm sure you're one of those who did the search right.

You have to look.

>> Oh, but believe you me, I mean, I read that and I thought, please, Lord, let me have money out there.

But I checked and I have no money, so nothing to report.

>> But that has to be a fun part of the treasurer's job, doesn't it?

>> That's right.

It's missing money.org.

I believe we can be able to go and check out whether you have money available out there or not.

All right.

>> Alex, this is a moment that we sure did not want to see.

Come.

You've done a great job covering complex stories for the Lexington Herald-Leader, but you were among the 13 newsroom staffers laid off recently by that news organization, your Kentucky native.

I know you are thrilled by the opportunity to cover news in your home state.

Your thoughts.

>> It's unfortunate.

I, as you said, was one of the 13 laid off at the Herald-Leader.

There's about half a dozen left or so.

And yeah, I mean, it's a blow we all love.

I love being a journalist in Kentucky.

I've also loved coming on the show.

And so it's more than the loss of a job.

And hopefully it's not my last, but any sort of loss of a journalism job is a is a blow.

And I've just I feel very lucky to have done what I've done for this long.

>> And we hope you'll find a way to stick around me, too.

Bill.

You're looking at that, I.

>> Am, I'm trying to.

I want to stay in Kentucky.

>> Well, we hope we certainly do hope that that works out.

And I know a lot of people have lamented that the excellence of these folks who, through no fault of their own, Mario, were laid off.

>> Yeah.

A job well done by Alex.

I know I've followed a lot of her reporting and been like, how did I miss that?

Where do we get on this?

Because Alex does a great reporting, has always done that.

And also other members of the Herald-Leader, but she's going to do a good job after wherever she lands next, I'll be supporting her.

>> Good luck.

Amazon is raising average starting pay in Kentucky to nearly $24 an hour.

It will also be introducing new grocery discounts and banking benefits for its workforce.

Apparently, the changes will affect more than 19,000 full and part time employees across Kentucky.

That's common on Kentucky.

Thank you for joining us and have a good week ahead.

>> He kept it in.

>> Kept it in.

>> Todd.

Thank