Congressional districts set

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February 10, 2012

By JEFF NEAL, CJ News Editor and HEATHER TOMLINSON, CJ Staff Writer Commonwealth Journal The Commonwealth Journal Fri Feb 10, 2012, 07:03 PM EST

Somerset —

Congressman Hal Rogers was more than pleased with a congressional redistricting plan for Kentucky approved by state lawmakers yesterday in Frankfort.

The plan would have Rogers keeping some key counties that he wanted in the 5th District, including Pulaski and Wayne. An original plan earlier in the legislative session had the veteran congressman losing Wayne and part of Pulaski.

"Regardless of where district lines are drawn, we are all Kentuckians. I commend state legislators for working across the aisle to develop a bipartisan redistricting plan that works for the Commonwealth,” said Rogers, who has represented the 5th District for over three decades. “The 5th Congressional District has changed three times during my service, but we’ve made impressive strides pulling together, sharing resources and creating tomorrow’s jobs.”

The House voted 58-26 for the plan, two hours after the Senate passed it 29-7. The heavily debated measure, which also reopens the congressional filing deadline for five days, now goes to Gov. Steve Beshear who is expected to sign it into law.

The plan was put in place one day after Lexington attorney Scott White filed a lawsuit asking a judge to draw new boundaries around Kentucky's six congressional districts, because lawmakers had not done so. White said Friday he expects to drop the lawsuit now that lawmakers, spurred by the threat of court intervention, have done their jobs.

Rogers seemed pleased the General Assembly could turn their attention away from congressional redistricting and edge closer to dealing with more significant issues.

“From every corner of the district, we’ve teamed up to promote better education, market our region’s beauty and natural treasures, clean up the environment and win the daily battles in the war on drugs,” Rogers said. “With this deliberation behind them, the state legislature can get to work on focusing attention on some of the most important issues impacting Kentucky families from prescription drug abuse to road and highway needs.”

The congressional redistricting, however, did not come without some outcry.

Despite protests from the GOP, the plan bolsters the Democrats' hold on the 6th Congressional District represented by Democratic U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler.

State Sen. Alice Forgy Kerr, R-Lexington, called the proposal the "Ben Chandler Lifetime Employment Act."

"We're making this a completely Democratic district," Kerr said.

It also would keep Owensboro in the 2nd District and Ashland in the 4th District. The House had pressed to shift those cities into the 1st District and 5th District, respectively.

Sen. Tom Buford, R-Nicholasville, charged that the proposal "packs" the congressional districts in favor of the incumbents — four Republicans and two Democrats — in a way that essentially ensures their re-election.

"This is redistricting gone wild," he said. "We just gave them a free seat in Congress."

House Speaker Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, said the conclusion was one "that not everybody is completely happy with" but could garner the votes to get through the General Assembly.

Meanwhile, a court battle still is raging over new district lines for the state Legislature.

The Legislative Research Commission on Friday officially filed an intent to appeal a judge's ruling that found newly drawn legislative districts to be unconstitutional.

Franklin County Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd ordered the secretary of state on Tuesday not to recognize newly redrawn legislative districts. That move forced several lawmakers who are up for re-election this year to file candidacy papers in districts that had been in place for the past decade.

Unhappy with the outcome of the redistricting battle, House Republicans filed suit in January challenging the constitutionality of the new boundaries. A Senate Democrat displaced in the redistricting process joined the lawsuit, which contends that the new districts could have been better balanced by population and redrawn in such a way that fewer counties would have been split among districts.

The new legislative districts produced some oddly shaped boundaries. The 89th House District stretches from the Tennessee border in McCreary County, zigzags narrowly through Laurel County, then encompasses all of Jackson County for a geographic setup that one lawmaker said would require an airplane for travel. One Senate district stretches from Barbourville to Morehead.

Shepherd's ruling restored old district boundaries and extends the deadline to Friday for legislative candidates to file to run in this year's elections.

The Associated Press contributed to this article

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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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