The capital of Kentucky is Frankfort. The geographical center of the state is in Marion County, near Lebanon. And some say the economic and commercial center of the state is Louisville.
But it's very obvious that the political capital and epicenter of the Bluegrass State is in northern Kentucky, where true conservatism is alive and thriving. The Cincinnati suburbs are the hotbed of what's called the liberty movement. The loss of three powerful establishment GOP General Assembly members just proves how strong the party's base is becoming.
Each of the three defeated legislators had a particular weakness that their opponent exploited. C. Ed Massey was an opponent of school choice, which is increasingly becoming a key issue for the GOP grassroots. Sal Santoro was a consistent advocate for increasing the gasoline tax, a terribly bad idea anytime but especially now as pump prices have reached record levels. And Adam Koenig has been a critic of Donald Trump and a vocal proponent of expanded gambling, something that social conservatives don't favor. (Plus, Koenig had a problem that crossed the boundaries of personal and political when his use of his official state government e-mail address on an Internet sex site for married people seeking extramarital affairs became a campaign issue.)
Beyond the three high-profile legislative losses, establishment forces are ceding vital ground in the party hierarchy. Conservatives are taking over local party leadership positions and, with varying degrees of success, are running for local elective offices against GOP incumbents.
Grassroots conservatives have been saying for years that they're tired of the party being run by a bunch of liberals who'd rather capitulate to the Democrats on key issues than stand on principles and oppose Democrats' proposals and policies.
If northern Kentucky is the hotbed of conservatism, some of that philosophy needs to trickle down to the rest of the state, where establishment Republican incumbents won renomination in primary battles against liberty-minded challengers.
Each of the three petitioners who sought to impeach Gov. Andy Beshear over his unconstitutional executive orders in reaction to the Wuhan Chinese virus pandemic ran for the legislature. Each lost, to the detriment of liberty-lovers in Kentucky.
In west-central Kentucky, Jacob Clark ran against Rep. Samara Heavrin, who was a Santoro ally in advocating for a gas tax increase. In the Bluegrass region, Tony Wheatley tried to unseat Kim King, who supported vaccination mandates. And also in that region, Sen. Donald Douglas' supporters in the Senate leadership spent thousands of dollars to help him fend off a challenge from Andrew Cooperrider, a small business owner who was one of the most vocal critics of the Beshear lockdowns because they directly and negatively impacted him.
Kentucky's Democrats had some off-the-wall takes concerning the GOP incumbents' losses. Since Congressman Thomas Massie had supported the challengers' campaigns, the official KDP Twitter account said the Kentucky GOP had lost control of Massie, who was in open rebellion against the party.
If Democrats want to function in a party that's controlled from the top down, with leadership dictating things, they can feel free. Republicans don't want to operate that way. They want the party's leaders reflecting their views, not telling them how to vote. Massie was reflecting the views of the majority of his Republican constituents in supporting Marianne Proctor, Steve Rawlings, and Steven Doan over the incumbents who lost.
But perhaps the craziest comment came from radical lefty Jacob Payne, former Page One Kentucky blogger who's still active in promoting liberal causes on Twitter. He said the reason the incumbents lost to the challengers was because he and a group of Democrats had worked against the sitting legislators and were trying to handicap the Republicans by sending the most conservative representatives possible to Frankfort.
Seriously? If he and his imaginary friends think that's harmful, they're missing a few screws. Sending conservatives to the General Assembly is one of those "please don't throw us in that briar patch" moments. Having more freedom-minded legislators in Frankfort works to our benefit, not to our detriment. With a few more voices from the right around, existing conservatives may be more emboldened to stake out and support positions backed by the base.
Voter registration in Kentucky is close to 50-50 now, as Democrats are changing parties and new voters are flocking to the GOP. These new voters fleeing liberal ideology don't want their new political home to be a haven for the beliefs they reject. They will demand that Republicans uphold conservative values to include opposing elective abortion, cutting taxes, reducing the size and scope of government, preserving and protecting individual rights, and other basic planks of a constitutional agenda. If Republican officials and leaderss don't act differently than Democrats, these new voters will desert the GOP as fast as they've joined. Republicans aren't poised to become the majority party in Kentucky because of a great love of Mitch McConnell or Damon Thayer or Michael Adams. The appeal is because of the Rand Pauls, Tom Massies, Matt Bevins, Savannah Maddoxes, and others who carry the conservative banner.
Can the conservatism that's becoming the dominant political mindset drip down the map to the rest of Kentucky? If this state is to escape the ravages of Democrat rule that has plagued it for decades, it's vital that it does. The GOP-supermajority legislature disappointed conservatives in the 2022 session by taking baby steps. While legislative leaders will pat themselves on the back for standing up to Beshear's agenda, the reality is they approved and enabled far too much of it.
As much as the GOP establishment and the Democrats would like to think that this explosion of conservatism is confined to northern Kentucky, and Boone County specifically, they may be in for a surprise. The Republican revolution is not being fought by moderates and backers of the status quo. The soldiers in this battle are the party's activists and the grassroots voters. This movement needs to trickle down from the Ohio River border counties to the rest of the state.
