By this time next week, Kentucky will have a new governor. With the decision by Gov. Matt Bevin not to contest the election in the General Assembly after a recanvass of the 5,000-vote decision showed no substantive changes in the vote totals, and with the certification of the results by the State Board of Elections, the way is paved for Andy Beshear to be sworn in as the commonwealth's 59th chief executive.
How did this happen? In a state that's trending Republican despite Democrats still holding an advantage in voter registration numbers, and in an election where every other Republican running for statewide office won by impressive numbers, how did an incumbent Republican who had the backing of a president who's immensely popular in the state manage to lose, especially with the state's economy bustling like never before?
There are a number of theories out there. One is that his tiff with Lt. Gov. Jeanene Hampton hurt him at the polls. Bevin alienated Hampton's supporters by not choosing her to run with him for a second time, and angered them when his administration fired members of her office staff, without consultation with or approval by her.
While that may have played a role in voting decisions by members of Hampton's inner circle -- Hampton herself admitted that she voted for Libertarian candidate John Hicks instead of Bevin -- it's doubtful that move itself cost the incumbent the race.
The night of the election, the Libertarian Party of Kentucky issued a classless statement saying it was pleased that its candidate had played spoiler and cost Bevin the election. Indeed, Hicks drew about 28,000 votes statewide, but it can't be ascertained for certain that all of those were votes that would otherwise have gone to Bevin. Libertarians tend to favor drug legalization, and Beshear had never indicated that he's for the legalization of marijuana or other drugs for recreational use. Hicks probably got his support from voters in both parties for whom being able to legally get stoned is their top-priority issue.
(It should be noted that the Libertarian Party also fielded a candidate in the auditor's race, who received more than 46,000 votes., so not even all Libertarian voters cast their ballots for Hicks.)
So again, how and why did this happen? Why did so many voters split their tickets to vote for Andy Beshear, yet picked every other Republican on the ballot?
The most correct answer is that Kentucky teachers threw a temper tantrum at the ballot box and voted against a candidate who was actually trying to ensure their pension system is solvent because they didn't like they way Bevin said some of the things he said.
In all honesty, Bevin wasn't wrong in his criticisms of public educators. Their actions in protesting at a business not even owned by the primary legislative author of the pension reform bill were misguided. They did put children at risk when they illegally called in sick so they could miss work and go to Frankfort to rally.
But perhaps the governor could have phrased some of his points a little better. Instead of saying that he was certain a child was molested or ingested poison or tried drugs because school was unexpectedly called off, he could have said something like this: "Parents can anticipate snow days and make plans for child care in advance. But when teachers decide the night before to call in sick en masse so they can attend a protest, and it forces school districts to cancel classes at the last minute, it forces parents to scramble to make plans for child care, and sometimes children can be left in less-than-ideal conditions because school was closed on short notice."
It's the same 100-percent true sentiment, but expressed in milder terms. (And Bevin's words did prove to be prophetic when a child was shot in Louisville on one of the sickout protest days when school was called off and kids were left at home.)
Teachers also didn't like being called out for their improper use of sick days to attend protests. Most public agencies differentiate between annual/personal/vacation days, which can be used for any purpose; and sick days, which are reserved for times when the employee or a child is sick or has a doctor's appointment, or for bereavement. Jefferson County even allows a certain number of teachers to miss a certain number of days a year for political or lobbying purposes.
What would happen if a state employee used sick leave instead of annual leave to go to Frankfort to protest lack of raises, insurance cost increases, or funding levels for their agency? Why should teachers not be held to the same standards?
Much of the discontent with Bevin came from the aforementioned Jefferson County. Louisvillians are quick to remind the rest of us that they are Kentucky's economic engine, and the rural areas of the commonwealth would be in sad shape if they weren't propping us up. The Jefferson County Teachers Association was one of the loudest pro-Beshear groups out there.
Yet, when rankings for all public schools were announced a couple of months ago, the bottom 20 in all three levels (elementary, middle, and high) was dominated by Jefferson County schools. How can that be? How can the richest county in the state, with all these great teachers, have such bad schools? And why does the JCTA so loudly oppose any reforms that might actually improve the state of education in the hub of Kentucky's economy?
The state's educational bureaucracy cast its lot with the son and ideological twin of the governor who neglected their pensions, instead of with the governor who tried to preserve pensions for current teachers and retirees and ensure a viable retirement system for future educators. They chose to support someone who will keep the educational status quo, instead of moving forward with reforms to improve schools and produce smarter, more prepared students.
They'll quickly find their support was misplaced. Beshear promised a $2,000 annual raise for teachers. Where is that money going to come from? There's no sentiment among the electorate for a tax increase, and gimmicks like casino gambling, sports betting, and drug legalization won't provide the necessary funding. Besides, teachers already get two raises a year -- an annual across-the-board percentage increase , and a "step increase" whereby their pay goes up for each year of seniority they accrue; a second-year teacher makes more than a first-year teacher, a seventh-year teacher makes more than a sixth-year teacher, and so on -- while state employees have had a net loss of pay over the last 12 years due to the Steve Beshear furloughs.
Under a friendly Republican administration, Kentucky's economy has grown the past four years. Beshear's Kentucky won't be nearly as attractive to job creators as was Bevin's Bluegrass State. If the state's growth slows or reverses, how will Beshear keep all his promises?
But the teachers had their tantrum last month, and they got their way. Kentucky's made a lot of progress the past four years, but they pressed the "pause" button on that to indulge their own hurt feelings. Too bad they had to harm the rest of the state in the process.
