Winners and Losers

The 2019 candidate filing day is rapidly approaching. With that on the horizon, here are our winners and losers of the week.

Winners:

• Thomas Massie – When the entire world was going bananas over the initial footage of the Covington Catholic kids in DC, Massie came out in support of them. What looked like an insensitive stance at the time proved to be the appropriate reaction the next day when new video emerged. Might be luck, might be foresight, but Massie looked like their hero quickly.

• Greg Stumbo – Whether it’s the withering bench of Democrat candidates or the fear of Morgan & Morgan money, whatever the case, Greg Stumbo remains the only Democrat in the Attorney General’s race. If he escapes without a primary, it will give him plenty of time to build up a war chest as well as moderate his message enough to appeal to some centrist voters.

• Jenean Hampton – Yes, she was publicly dumped off the ticket by Matt Bevin. That may not be the worst thing ever though. Do you know what Milton Hershey (founder of Hershey’s chocolate) and Waylon Jennings have in common? Hershey was supposed to be on the Titanic and Jennings was supposed to be on the plane that killed Buddy Holly. The comparisons to Hampton somehow seem appropriate.

Losers:

• Whitney Westerfield – When the going gets tough . . . the tough cry on a phone call and withdraw from a race they’ve been in for three years? Daniel Cameron’s candidacy caused Westerfield to go running for the hills with the worst excuse we’ve ever seen. Legislative business? Wouldn’t that affect people like Rocky Adkins, Ralph Alvarado and Wil Schroder also, all who hold chairmanships or leadership positions and are running statewide?

• Steve Henry – After 8 years with a strained relationship as Paul Patton’s Lt. Governor, badly failed races for U.S. Senate and Governor, and a host of legal issues over false billing records, we really thought that Henry would be a sad footnote in our political history. With his wife, Heather, filing for Secretary of State this week, we expect every bit of his glorious past to be political fodder once again.

• Wil Schroder – Schroder is a bright young Senator from Northern Kentucky. He comes from a political family, with his father having served on the Kentucky Supreme Court. He was recently given the helms of the prestigious State and Local Government committee and the world looked to be his oyster. That may have all changed with one fell swoop as his entry into the Attorney General’s race will no doubt bring about the wrath of Senator McConnell. It’s rare for those on the Senate Leader’s naughty list to go on to find much success.