Winners and Losers

It’s the last week before Frankfort gets a bit raucous with legislators back in town. So most of the news revolved around the filing deadline.

Winners:

• Rocky Adkins, Andy Beshear and Adam Edelen – Despite constant rumors that an extremely wealthy “Frankfort outsider” was going to enter the Democratic primary for governor, no such candidate ever emerged. This allows the three frontrunners to stick to their more traditional gameplans during the primary.

• Mike Harmon – You would think that a person who drew four opponents would not be considered a weekly winner. But, considering the strength of those opponents and how much of an underdog Harmon was considered it 2015, he definitely is. No prime time Democrat stepped up to take on Harmon, which has to be a relief for him.

• Steve Knipper – Whether or not the man is employed right now is anyone’s best guess. However, as a candidate, the employment controversy has skyrocketed his name ID . . . as well as make him suddenly the “anti-Bevin” candidate for Secretary of State. He probably picked up a lot of votes on that alone.

Losers:

• Matt Bevin – “Soft.” Nothing more needs to be said.

• Alison Grimes – Once the darling of the DNC and KDP, Allison has had a tough week. After announcing that she would not be seeking election to any office this year, the Herald-Leader, in conjunction with ProPublica, released the hounds of hell on her. Illegal voter searches, kickbacks to donors, absenteeism . . . yes, Allison, it’s all just sexist, isn’t it?

• Kentucky Republicans – Republicans across the state went from whispering that Bevin needed a legitimate primary opponent to practically screaming it from atop the Capitol dome last Tuesday. With Jamie Comer, Kelly Craft, Brett Guthrie, Max Wise and Gary Ransdell all ultimately deciding not to enter the fray, Republicans are basically assured a Bevin-Alvarado ticket that will have very heavy lifting to do in the fall.