Hot Rod Power Tour roars into Somerset

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June 11, 2009

By TRICIA NEAL, CJ Staff Writer The Commonwealth Journal Thu Jun 11, 2009, 08:41 PM EDT

Somerset — Local officials set out to impress the thousands of visitors who descended upon Somerset yesterday for the 15th annual Hot Rod Magazine Power Tour.

“We have all worked hard at putting our best foot forward for this event,” said Somerset-Pulaski Convention and Visitors Bureau Director Carolyn Mounce.

“Any time we can showcase our area, it’s a win-win situation.”

Apparently their efforts were successful.

Mounce said she had received plenty of positive feedback from Power Tour-goers who had wandered past her booth located inside The Center for Rural Development yesterday.

“They’re very impressed with our facilities,” she said.

“The guy from Hot Rod Magazine said this was the neatest venue they’d been at. ... Even when it rained hard, people came inside, and they were so glad that there was something other than hot dogs to eat and a place to sit down.”

The Power Tour brought some 3,000 hot rods and performance vehicles to the parking lot of The Center — and to surrounding parking lots at Somerset Community College, the Alton Blakely dealership, and more — as part of a seven-stop, eight-day tour across the country.

The rumbling caravan had come to Somerset from Dayton, Ohio. Today, drivers will depart for the tour’s final stop, Bristol, Tenn.

Mounce said she had been asked by Hot Rod officials to work on making sure the Power Tour could pass through Somerset again in the future.

She plans on doing just that.

In the meantime, Mounce was busy passing out tourism information for the entire Lake Cumberland area during yesterday’s event.

“I’ve talked to people from Canada, Oklahoma, Illinois, Wisconsin and Georgia — off the top of my head,” she said. “Hopefully we’ll be able to get some of these people back to our area.”

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Pulaski carries Girdler to win

In the weeks leading up to Tuesday’s primary election, it was impossible to miss the colorful signs dotting nearly every Pulaski roadway. The names in the race for the 15th State Senatorial District seat popped out: A.C. Donahue. Chris Girdler. Mark Polston.

Once citizens hit the ballots, however, the results mirrored the dimensions of the signs themselves: Chris Girdler stood the tallest.

Girdler, deputy district director for Congressman Harold “Hal” Rogers, ran away with the votes inside Pulaski County’s borders, earning 3,926 votes for 62.05 percent of the total number cast.

That number more than doubled the next highest vote-getter, businessman Mark Polston, who raked in 1,624 votes for 25.67 percent.

However, Polston — who owns Classic Carpet, a home-flooring business located just off the southern 914 bypass — can claim a moral victory ... three of them, in fact. In all three counties in the district other than Pulaski — those being Adair, Casey, and Russell Counties — Polston actually edged out Girdler.

In Adair, Polston beat Girdler 629 to 394. In Casey County, it was 538 to 417, and in Russell, it was 1,862 to 1,038.

Polston said he just “couldn’t pull it out with the numbers” and that “the machine worked for” Girdler in Pulaski County.

“I think that was their strategy — I think they had a Pulaski County strategy all along,” said Polston. “They played the political game well.”

Polston said the difference between his and Girdler’s campaigns was that “mine was a very, very grass roots campaign,” he said. “I did not have a political machine behind me. I understand how this process works, and in this instance, he prevailed.”

As for why Girdler didn’t take three of four counties, the winning candidate — since there are no Democrats in the race, winning the Republican primary was effectively a final victory for Girdler — said he didn’t have an answer for that.

However, “I believe things happen for a reason and I hope the long and strenuous campaign will only heighten my desire to move beyond the bitterness and partisanship of the recent past,” said Girdler.

“Regionalism is a goal of mine, and I look forward to helping all four counties,” he added, noting that he campaigned heavily in each of them.

Sen. Vernie McGaha, the long-time state senator whose seat the candidates were vying for, actually supported Polston after Liberty’s Todd Hoskins dropped out of the race earlier this month.

Donahue, a local attorney, got 556 votes in Pulaski County, 8.79 percent of the vote. He only received 145 votes in Russell County, 74 in Adair County, and 75 in Casey County, where hometown candidate Hoskins almost matched him with 71 votes despite no longer being officially in the race.

Polston said he’s “still digesting” what happened, and though “the process has been a very good experience for me,” he wouldn’t commit to running again in the future. “I wouldn’t shut the door to anything, but I’m not opening any doors either.”

Still, “I think I got a lot of people involved in the process that had not been involved before and would not have been otherwise,” he said. “A lot of people got out and worked really hard, got motivated to talk to friends and neighbors. I think a lot of people became involved through this campaign that are going to be involved for a long time.”

Girdler stressed his “positive message” and said that Rogers is a “mentor and good friend” that he would turn to for advice in dealing with a frequently combative legislative body in Frankfort, one for which Girdler hopes to help change the culture.

Girdler said that he was “confident and optimistic” during the day Tuesday because he’d “worked extremely hard.” Nevertheless, the realization that he’d won gave him “chill bumps,” he said.

“I’m absolutely honored,” said Girdler. “The position of state senator is more than an honor, more than an office. It’s a charge to keep, and I will give it my all.

“I pledge to be the people’s state senator,” he added. “I look forward to working with everyone to move this region forward.”

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