Pol Watchers

Politicians keeping contributions from indicted road contractor

Several politicians and organizations who have recently received more than $17,000 from indicted road contractor Leonard Lawson said Thursday they have no plans to return the donations.

Others, such as U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, declined to comment on the issue.

Justin Brasell, campaign manager for McConnell, wouldn’t talk about the $8,000 Lawson gave to McConnell and a related political action committee in February 2007 even though McConnell has recently given away contributions from another man indicted on federal corruption charges.

Last month, McConnell said he would donate to charity the $10,000 his campaign received from a political action committee set up by indicted U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, a Republican from Alaska. McConnell is facing a stiff challenge from Democrat Bruce Lunsford this fall.

A grand jury in Lexington indicted Lawson and two other men Wednesday on charges stemming from an investigation of alleged bid tampering on state and federal road projects.

Election records show that Lawson gave more than $17,850 to five candidates and two organizations this election cycle. Some of those candidates say they don’t feel there’s any reason to give back the money unless Lawson is proven guilty.

“I think it’s absolutely fine to take and keep the money,” said Republican state Sen. Brandon Smith of Hazard. “So far, only an accusation has been made against Lawson. People are innocent until proven guilty, and I really appreciate his support.”

Lawson donated $1,000 to Smith’s campaign in January for a special state Senate election to fill the seat formerly held by Democratic Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo.

Likewise, Democratic State Rep. Greg Stumbo of Prestonsburg, said he had no plans to give back the $1,000 Lawson contributed in January to his special election for the 95th House district after the freshman Democrat who held that seat resigned.

“Leonard Lawson has been a friend of mine for well over 30 years,” Stumbo said. “I think he’s entitled to be presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.”

Lawson’s attorney, Larry Mackey, has pledged that his client would fight the charges and has lambasted federal prosecutors for what he called “leaks” in the case that have “only destroyed Mr. Lawson’s right to a fair trial.”

Stumbo edging toward top post

Ryan Alessi
Herald-Leader political writer

Like political water torture, Democratic state Rep. Greg Stumbo has been slowly revealing his intentions all summer about whether he’ll run for the top spot in the state House.

With each comment he exudes more confidence.

”I should have a decision in the next two weeks,“ he said during a telephone interview Saturday. He added that he’s been ”very, very encouraged“ by support from other House Democrats.

Because lawmakers never want to pick the wrong side in a leadership race, Stumbo said momentum could snowball in his favor if he reaches a certain tipping point of support.

”If things continue to develop in the way they’ve developed over the last few weeks, I don’t think it will be close,“ he said of an eventual vote scheduled for January to determine who will be House speaker.

If he, indeed, does challenge Jody Richards, the longest serving House speaker in Kentucky history, the race would shake up Frankfort in a way the capital hasn’t seen in a decade.

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Stumbo releases working draft of slots plan

FRANKFORT -- State Rep. Greg Stumbo released a working draft of a bill Wednesday he plans to prefile for consideration in the 2009 General Assembly that would allow video lottery terminals at race tracks.

Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, said in a news release that his plan would create new revenue for the state's horse industry through larger purses, boost funding for primary education and reduce the tax burden on Kentuckians by removing the state property tax on motor vehicles and motorboats.

Some proceeds also would go to the Thoroughbred and Standardbred Development Funds, Kentucky PRIDE, treatment for problem gamblers and to assist the state lottery with the costs of expanding lottery options.

Under his plan, the lottery corporation would oversee licensing of the lottery machines and tracks that want the terminals.

Stumbo said he hopes to receive public comment on the bill over the next several weeks.

His bill has not yet been prefiled.

Last week, Rep. Tom Burch, D-Louisville, said he will prefile a bill that will allow 18,000 slot machines in the state. Each county would have slot machines, but only if each wants them.

Burch's plan also would allow 6,000 slot machines at the eight licensed race tracks in the state.

--Jack Brammer

Beshear vows to stay out of legislative leadership races

FRANKFORT -- Gov. Steve Beshear stressed Tuesday that he will not be involved in state legislative leadership races.

"There are a lot of conversations going on now that seem to be involved in the leadership races one way or the other," Beshear said. "As governor I'm going to stay as far away from those leadership races as I can because I don't have a role in those."

Beshear's comments came after he was asked if he agreed with recent comments by Rep. Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, that House Speaker Jody Richards, D-Bowling Green, failed the Democratic governor in this year's General Assembly.

Stumbo is weighing whether to run against Richards for the top position in the House in next January's legislative leadership races.

Beshear, talking to reporters after a Capitol news conference to announce an event to showcase the bicentennial celebration of Abraham Lincoln's birth,  said he is "sure the members of the House will work through all that."

Beshear's comments contrast with remarks made last week to the Herald-Leader by Stumbo, who said he met with the governor in Prestonsburg earlier this month.

“What he asked me was if I was interested in getting back into legislative leadership. And I said, ‘Yeah, I enjoyed it (previously),'” Stumbo said. “Then he asked, ‘If you got back into legislative leadership, would you and I have any problems?' And I said ‘No.'”

--Jack Brammer

Battle brewing between Richards, Stumbo over Speaker job

Ryan Alessi
Herald-Leader political writer

If recent rhetoric is any indication, a leadership battle indeed is brewing between House Speaker Jody Richards and the man who helped install him in that post nearly 14 years ago.

State Rep. Greg Stumbo, the Prestonsburg Democrat who returned to the House this spring after a four-year stint as attorney general, has gradually ramped up his pointed criticism of the House leadership and, specifically, Richards.

“I think the membership feels that the session was pretty much a disaster. And the truth is, when your company goes bad or something happens, the guy in charge gets the blame. Rightly or wrongly, I hear more people complain about Speaker Richards than any of the other members of leadership,” Stumbo said.

He added that he's “not obviously campaigning at this time” to challenge Richards for the speaker's post during the legislative leadership elections in January.

“But on the other hand, there's a growing number of members that have expressed extreme disappointment” with Richards, Stumbo said.

Richards, a Bowling Green bookseller who has served in the House since 1976, said he has been collecting commitments from the more than 60 Democrats in that chamber since the regular session ended in April.

His message to Stumbo is: Bring it on.

“If that's what he chooses to do, that's fine. I feel very, very good. I feel like there's more support for me now,” Richards said. “Where I'm really surprised is the support in Eastern Kentucky, especially against Greg.”

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Stumbo wants slots at tracks

By Ryan Alessi
RALESSI@HERALD-LEADER.COM

FRANKFORT -- State Rep. Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, said he'll propose legislation to at least temporarily legalize slot machines at racetracks, a plan he argues is more politically palatable than the governor's earlier bid for full casinos.

Stumbo said he will pre-file a bill in the coming weeks to kick off debate before the 2009 General Assembly convenes in January.

"Maybe one of the things the legislature should consider is a trial -- authorizing a limited number of slots just at tracks and let's see what kind of a response it gets," he said. "Then we'll know after a year."

Stumbo, a former state attorney general, said he doesn't believe the state's constitution must be changed to allow slots at horse tracks -- a factor that also could simplify the debate in the General Assembly.

Earlier this year, Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear proposed allowing casinos with slot machines and table games during his first legislation session in office. But his constitutional amendment crumbled after a House committee changed the bill so that horse tracks weren't guaranteed a certain number of licenses.

Beshear ran for governor on a platform of pushing for casinos in Kentucky as a way to generate more revenue, but he has said little on the subject since his legislation's public collapse.

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Stumbo keeping powder dry in leadership races

SAYS HE'S BEEN URGED TO CHALLENGE RICHARDS BUT IS EYING SPEAKER PRO TEM

Ever since returning to the state House last February, Greg Stumbo of Prestonsburg has attracted questions and speculation about whether he would angle for a spot in the leadership team of the chamber, where he had served before as the longest tenured Majority Floor Leader.

Stumbo said in an interview with the Herald-Leader Wednesday afternoon that he is considering it but far from making up his mind. The most likely race he would enter would be the battle for Speaker Pro Tem, the spot currently held by Rep. Larry Clark of Louisville.

Another Louisville-area representative, Joni Jenkins of Shively, stepped up in recent weeks to challenge Clark for that spot.

"Personally, I think that race is wide open because what you’ve got is a split in the Louisville delegation," he said.

Stumbo said he has received calls from both Clark and Jenkins.

"I told Joni, when she called me, I love you but I just can’t commit to you. That may be something I still choose run for," he said.

Stumbo then listed other names of "friends of mine" who are seeking the other leadership posts, citing them as reasons why he doesn't want to enter those races. Speaker Jody Richards of Bowling Green, House Floor Leader Rocky Adkins -- whose Eastern Kentucky district is near Stumbo's -- and Democratic Caucus Chairman Charlie Hoffman are all seeking re-election. Hoffman has drawn a challenge from Rep. Bob Damron, who held that post from 2005 to 2007.

He also said he was unlikely to seek the position of House whip, which has opened up because of the retiring of Rep. Rob Wilkey. Stumbo said he would be reluctant to run against John Will Stacy of West Liberty and Tommy Thompson of Owensboro, who have announced for that position.

Stumbo, who is vacationing in Florida, said he's been urged to challenge Richards for the top position but wouldn't say by whom.

"People keep urging me to run against the speaker. But in this business, you make a lot of enemies whether you try to or not. The older you get, the more important you realize it is to keep your friends," he said.

- Ryan Alessi

State settles lawsuit stemming from hiring probe

FRANKFORT — The state has settled a whistleblower lawsuit filed by former Transportation Cabinet worker Sarah Missy McCray for $500,000.

McCray claimed in 2005 that she was retaliated against for cooperating with with former Attorney General Greg Stumbo's investigation of hiring practices in the administration of former Gov. Ernie Fletcher.

McCray will receive a lump-sum payment of $500,000 for damages and be reassigned to the Personnel Cabinet, said cabinet spokesman Chuck Wolfe.

In her lawsuit, McCray named then-Transportation Secretary Bill Nighbert as a defendant.   An indictment against Nighbert, which was later dropped after he was pardoned by Fletcher, alleged he told McCray that, if it were 20 years ago, "I probably would have come back there and socked you in the mouth."

Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear said in a statement about the settlement that he was "happy" to reach "an amicable resolution of this matter."

“I appreciate how difficult this has been for Ms. McCray and applaud her pursuit of justice," Beshear said in the statement. "It’s no secret that many state employees were mistreated over the past four years."

“This case is one of the most egregious examples of how many state workers came to work each day fearing for their jobs," he said. "It left us with the task of cleaning up the mess created by the previous administration.”

--Jack Brammer

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Stumbo has 'no regrets' as he leaves office

By Jack Brammer
JBRAMMER@HERALD-LEADER.COM

FRANKFORT -- History will remember Greg Stumbo's four-year tenure as state attorney general for the investigation and prosecution that brought down a governor.

Stumbo, who left office Friday as the state's chief law-enforcement official and longs to continue his political career by returning to the state House, says he hopes "history will remember us as being not afraid to enforce the law and that we took this job seriously."

The well-known Democratic politician from Floyd County said in a wide-ranging interview that he has "no regrets" how his office handled the state hiring investigation that led to the indictment of former Gov. Republican Gov. Ernie Fletcher and others.

He also said he believes the outcome of the investigation and possibly last year's governor's race, which Fletcher lost to Democrat Steve Beshear, would have been different if Fletcher "had worked with us as he first said he would."

Three misdemeanor charges issued by a special grand jury against the governor were dismissed after Fletcher and Stumbo reached an agreement. Fletcher pardoned others who were indicted and maintained that the investigation was politically motivated.

When news broke about the investigation, Fletcher said he would seek "the unvarnished truth" and would address the situation if any wrongdoing were found.

"I would have wagered my house at that time that the situation would not have turned out as it did," Stumbo said Friday. "If he had worked with us, he still might be governor.

"What transformed him to take a defiant approach towards me and the investigation, I don't know. I'm convinced he was talked into it, but his initial position was the real Ernie Fletcher, in my opinion."

Stumbo said his office did not target Fletcher because he was Kentucky's first Republican governor since 1971.

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Stumbo gets guilty plea in election fraud case

A London road contracting company will pay $250,000 to settle election fraud charges brought against one of its employees, Attorney General Greg Stumbo announced today.

Phillip Dufour, an employee of Elmo Greer & Sons LLC, has also pled guilty to a felony charge of violating election laws and was ordered to pay a $10,000 fine.

Dufour and Elmo Greer & Sons have agreed to cooperate with an ongoing investigation by naming all individuals who solicited funds or were given money during the gubernatorial primary election last year.

The investigation was spurred by an article in The Courier-Journal earlier this year that identified suspect donations to candidates for governor.

Dufour pled guilty to charges of funneling money to eight individuals so that they could contribute to the campaigns of former Gov. Ernie Fletcher, Republican Anne Northup and Democrat Steve Henry.

In a settlement with Stumbo's office, the company agreed to pay $250,000 to defray costs of the investigation "as a gesture of good faith." The company denied any liability in the case.

Stumbo said the case produced the largest fine and payment for election fraud in the state's history.

"It should put everyone on notice that this type of activity will not be tolerated," Stumbo said in an interview.

Friday is Stumbo's final day in office.

- John Stamper and Jack Brammer