Alexander out-raises Smith in 30th District

SMITH DOESN'T FILE FOR HOUSE SEAT BUT KEY HAZARD DEM DOES

Democrat Scott Alexander, who has been campaigning for the 30th Senate District with the full political force of the governor's office behind him, has collected $162,396 for his bid in next Tuesday's election.

With that total, which comes after the fund-raising help of Gov. Steve Beshear and Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo, Alexander outpaced Republican candidate Brandon Smith, who collected $106,285. 

But both candidates reported to the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance on Tuesday having about $45,000 as of last Friday. Smith and Alexander are competing to replace Mongiardo in the 30th District, which covers Perry, Harlan, Leslie and Bell counties.

Meanwhile, Smith -- who has been the state representative from the 84th House District since beating Alexander in the 2000 election -- didn't file Tuesday to run again for the House seat in case he loses the Feb. 5 special election.

He could have filed for the House seat and run for the the special election for the 30th Senate race because only odd Senate seats are up for the regular 2008 elections. He could have done so because the two seats wouldn't show up on the same election ballot in November.

No Republican filed to run for the 84th District, which covers Perry and part of Harlan counties.

But one of the four Democratic candidates who did jump in the race was Chester Jones, the Democratic Party Chairman from Perry County -- one of two key local party officials who helped secure the Democratic nomination for Alexander.

It's just the latest development in an already convoluted and politically messy race.

The other party official, Leo Haggerty, served as Bell County Democratic chairman. Haggerty and Jones voted for a nomination process that only allowed the four county chairman to officially vote for the nominee -- not all the members of the county executive committee.

Alexander defeated former state Rep. Roger Noe of Harlan in that process, which Noe strongly objected to even to the point of accusing Mongiardo and Beshear of meddling in the process.

Haggerty, meanwhile, recently accepted a $50,000-a-year position in the Governor's Office of Local Development.

- Ryan Alessi

Comments

[Highlander Dem]

Good story, Ryan. It will be very interesting to watch how Montigardo manipulates the Perry County sheep for Jones. With three candidates from Perry and one from Harlan, He (Mongiardo) may be sucking wind on this one.