Post Kentucky Election Analysis

Now that the elections in Kentucky are finished until March of 2016, I would like to offer my analysis.  The main contest of course being for the Governor's seat.  The polling since this past May showed that Jack Conway held the lead.  This of course would cause one that took the polls to heart to be flabbergasted at what transpired last night.  Matt Bevin the Republican won convincingly.  It wasnt a landslide, but it was to the point where it couldn't even be contested.  Democrats, which usually benefit from the presence of third party candidates, are already complaining that Independent Candidate Drew Curtis cost Jack Conway the election.  

As you can see, even if everyone that voted for Drew Curtis voted for Jack Conway, it still would not have been near enough to close the gap.  This is the age old and debunked argument that both parties have used to justify their continued attempts to discriminate against third party candidate challenges.

In other Kentucky election news, It was not all bad news for the Kentucky Democrat Party as Alison Lundergan Grimes keeps her seat.

Winning for the Democratic Party last night was Andy Beshear, son of exiting Governor Steve Beshear who claims he ran and won on his own merit but anyone with two brain cells to rub together would know otherwise.  This would be the tightest race of the night as Beshear would win by approximately 2200 votes.

Other than those two offices, the Kentucky GOP ran the tables with the rest of the offices.  Matt Bevin becomes only the second GOP Governor in the last 40 years.  Sixty of the last sixty-eight years in Kentucky have been under a Democrat Governor.  This begs the question, why has Kentucky seemingly made this transition toward a more conservative stance.  Typically Kentucky has voted GOP when it comes to national seats like the President, Senator, US Representative, but usually has voted Democrat when it comes to state positions.

With Governor-Elect Matt Bevin set to take control, many pundits are already spreading widespread hysteria and apocalyptic warnings about the actions Matt Bevin wants to take.  They are already warning users of KYNECT, the state instituted healthcare exchange, that Bevin wants to make people sick and kill them by taking their healthcare away from them.  Just a disclaimer, I am one of those people that is registered for health insurance via KYNECT.  They are already spreading fear about the state's pension program and Bevin's ideas about switching the state's pension program over to 401K type programs.  People are already exclaiming that Bevin hates police, fire, and ems.  This of course is a complete joke because Bevin is a Veteran and I havent ran across many if at all any veterans that dislike our Police, Fire, and EMS.

No doubt the election last night sent shock waves and messages to the political establishment throughout the state.  However I think many are over exaggerating changes that are perceived.  Matt Bevin might have promised a lot of things to get elected however, if I were a betting man, I would say that more than half of the changes he said he would make wont even be considered, and the other half would be spread out over the next 4 years.  I guaranty you that he is already considering being re-elected in 2019.

Ill close with how I spent my evening last night.  I chose to attend the post election party that Fark.com founder and CEO Independent Drew Curtis had in Lexington last night.  It was fun with beer and good people just having a good ol time.

League of Women Voters of Kentucky Excludes Drew Curtis From Kentucky Governor Debate

The evening of October 25th 2015 on the campus of Eastern Kentucky University featured an event where Democratic Candidate Jack Conway and Republican Candidate Matt Bevin squared off on stage in a debate for Kentucky Governor general election.  The only problem is that Drew Curtis, fark.com creator, and independent candidate was not allowed on stage even though he is a legal candidate for office and will appear on the ballot November 3rd when the citizens of the Commonwealth of Kentucky will elect their next Governor among other offices up for grabs.  The organization that arranged this debate was none other than the League of Women Voters of Kentucky.  The watch dog group that is supposed to watch out for unfair voting practices and champion fairness in democratic elections chose to exclude Drew Curtis on the basis that he did not achieve a polling threshold of 10% prior to the debate.  This of course is questionable considering a poll conducted from October 14th-15th by Fabrizio, Lee & Associates showed that Drew Curtis polled at 11%.  Below is the link from that poll.

http://www.mattbevin.com/survey?utm_campaign=poll_tied&utm_medium=email&utm_source=mb4kentucky

However this is a moot argument considering that this debate was held on public property funded by the state and has a responsibility of being fair, non-partisan, and applicable to all election laws.  Excluding a candidate that has followed the KRS to the letter to appear on the ballot based on arbitrary "Debate/Forum" policies set by a non-profit organization is abhorrent to a fair Democratic election.  Below is a letter that I have sent to both of my representatives in Frankfort.

"I am a constituent from Estill County, Kentucky.  I am writing you today to request that you consider the attached email below.  As a concerned citizen of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, I am coming to you to ask that you work with your colleagues in Frankfort to draft and pass legislation regarding the fairness of not only ballot access for third party candidates, but fairness in public debates.  Currently for some offices, the KRS mandates that third party candidates acquire five thousand signatures in order to appear on ballots.  Republican and Democrat candidates only require two signatures.  This is a very discriminatory law that must be rectified.  The substance of my writing you today however has to do with the October 25th Kentucky Governor debate that was held on Eastern Kentucky University's campus.  This was a debate organized by the League of Women Voters of Kentucky.  This Debate only had the Democratic Candidate Jack Conway and Republican Candidate Matt Bevin.  The debate excluded Independent candidate Drew Curtis on the grounds that their "Debate/Forum policy" required that a candidate poll at least 10%.  In a poll conducted by Fabrizio, Lee & Associates conducted on October 14th-15th showed that Drew Curtis polled at 11%.

http://www.mattbevin.com/survey?utm_campaign=poll_tied&utm_medium=email&utm_source=mb4kentucky

However, I find that to be a moot point considering that the debate for the state's highest office  was held on PUBLIC property that operates on PUBLIC funding through the state.  I am asking that you champion my concerns in Frankfort to ensure a more fair Democratic election process.  I am asking that the KRS be amended to prohibit such arbitrary exclusionary rules from being executed by organizations arranging public debates because the citizens of the Commonwealth of Kentucky deserve to hear each candidate that legally appears on the ballot. I would be more than happy to meet with you to discuss this matter further.

Thank You,
Virgil Edwards"

Would you join me in demanding a more fair democratic voting process for all including third party candidates so that we can finally bring an end to the two party paradigm that continues to produce debt, waste, and usurpation of rights and wealth from WE THE PEOPLE?

2015 Kentucky Governor General Election Q&A

Back in May, I put up a Kentucky Governor Primary Election Q&A post for the benefit of the voters of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.  All GOP and Democratic Party candidates were solicited and invited to participate by answering the same set of questions and have their responses side by side posted in a single post so that people still undecided can have an opportunity to see what their answers to non mainstream media sponsored questions were.  Unfortunately none of the GOP candidates nor the Democratic party candidates responded...However, Independent candidate Drew Curtis, Fark.com Creator out of Lexington saw my impassioned pleas for participation on social media and decided that he would participate even though my initial attempts did not include him..

The Same Invitation to participate in this blog post was again offered to GOP candidate Matt Bevin, Democratic Party candidate Jack Conway, and Independent candidate Drew Curtis.. Deja vu, Drew Curtis was the only candidate to respond with his answers to questions asked.  Without further ado...Here are Drew Curtis's answers to once again non mainstream media questions from a common man like me.  Please Enjoy and share this with your friends and family on Social Media.


1) As the State of Kentucky continues to see problems with drugs such as heroin continuing to claim lives and create headaches for law enforcement, many claim that the "War on Drugs" is to blame, many claim
that we arent spending enough on enforcement, what do you see as the solution?

"This is without a doubt one of the most difficult problems facing Kentucky.  If it were easy to fix we'd have a solution already.  

I'm still exploring this issue but so far I'm considering solutions along the following lines:

- Massachusetts is working on a pilot program to work on a similar problem in their state, I'm keeping an eye on how well it works but I'm hopeful.  

- Decriminalizing addiction.  I realize this is vague statement but we need to reach addicts in order for them to receive treatment, we should not treat them as criminals"


2) The Commonwealth of Kentucky for its entire existence has always seen the eastern part of the state particularly the south east portion typically known as the coal fields of Kentucky wrought with poor economic conditions even during the height of the coal industry, do you see more government or less government intervention as a solution here and what do you have planned to ease burdens in this part of the state?

"Eastern Kentucky is hungry for technology.  As the only candidate for Governor who has personally built broadband networks and is a computer programer, I am intimately familiar with technology.  Eastern Kentucky shares a similar geographic profile to Boulder Colorado - however turning communities into tech hubs requires more than just running broadband out to them (although it is a good start).

I am a strong proponent of less direct government intervention - I would prefer the private sector provide and implement solutions.  Government should assist when and where it is needed.  "


3) During the last 12 months, the nation has seen attacks on our Law Enforcement over the incidents in Ferguson, Missouri Baltimore, Maryland, and in New York.  As Governor and chief executor of laws in this state, what will you do to ensure that moral and support stay high with local and state police?

"I don't have any solutions at hand for this but I would like to ensure moral and support for law enforcement.  I welcome anyone who has working implementations to contact me so we can take a look together"


4) People believe that the Governor should be viewed as any other elected position as a servant to the people.  Do you believe that the Governor should be holding more local public meetings with the people so that they can be given their voice for him to hear?

"Yes - strongly.  Although this can be accelerated by being more open online as well.  As an Independent Governor I will have an open door policy.  Ideas from both parties are welcome. "


5) Education costs in this state continues to rise along with other schools in every state in this country.  What will you do as Governor to lead on suppressing that rise in cost?

"I do not have a solution for this at this time.  However there is no additional money available for anything.  I am asked often if I support free community college tuition and pre-K education.  The answer is yes but Kentucky doesn't have the ability to finance either of those for the forseable future.  Leadership from both parties has left Kentucky's finances in shambles.  The only news here that is relevant to the question asked is that money isn't available to increase spending. "


6) The 10th Amendment to the US Constitution reads. "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the
people."  What will you do as Governor to ensure that the Federal Government doesn't continue to encroach on the rights of the people of the Commonwealth?

"This is actually somewhat complicated depending on what we're talking about.  Let's examine a few examples:

- Laws preventing gay marriage were ruled unconstitutional.  This means all laws state and federal were thrown out.  State laws cannot mandate something that has been declared unconstitutional.  As a result, county clerks must issue marriage licenses.  

- When state and federal laws conflict, a state official must defend the state law against the federal law.  Currently state law allows the growing of hemp.  Federal law says growing hemp is illegal.  If push comes to shove, a Governor must fight to preserve the law that allows hemp to be grown.  Period.

- Acquiescing to a federal law or mandate does not relinquish the right to go against it later.  The EPA has mandated new regulations on emissions to be met by 2030 (along with a billion dollars in investment in Appalachia which I strongly approve of).  Currently it appears that Kentucky is going to easily be in compliance with this mandate.  However, our agreement to comply - for now - with Federal guidelines does not mean that we will always choose to continue to comply in the future should things change down the road.   We are not giving up our right to challenge EPA guidelines in the future."



7) With so much on the plate of Law Enforcement in the state, what do you consider to be priority in order to maximize the effiency of the Law Enforcement and ensure maximum freedom and liberty for the citizens?

"I am open to suggestions on how to implement this from both Law Enforcement and the public.  As luck would have it, everyone wants an effective and efficient law enforcement.  Given that we have a common goal, I believe we stand a good chance to make improvements everyone will like."