BY PATRICK CROWLEY
The Republican Party in Northern Kentucky may not be split. And divided may be too strong a word. But clearly, the GOP has come to a crossroads.
And with the fund-raising season gearing up, some local GOPers are going to find themselves torn over which candidate to back.
The fault line centers on the battle between Fort Mitchell attorney Rick Robinson and Boone County state Sen. Gex ''Jay'' Williams. Both are out there beating the bushes for money and backing from area Republicans, business leaders and elected GOP officials.
The contested primary for the congressional seat being vacated by Jim Bunning - the Southgate Republican leaving the U.S. House to run for Senate - in itself is not a bad dynamic for the party.
Lots of long-time Northern Kentucky residents will tell you that while they vote Republican, they are registered Democrat. The reason is simple. The Republicans had few, if any, primaries, and often the GOP would not even field candidates for some partisan races.
So if voters wanted to vote in a primary and actually have a say in who was running the show in the statehouse and courthouses, they had to register Democrat to participate in the process.
Now, it is the Republicans who are having contested primaries. While it looks like the Democrats will have just one major candidate in the 4th Congressional race, Boone County Judge-executive Ken Lucas, the GOP has three - Mr. Williams, Mr. Robinson and Fort Thomas attorney Jim Kidney.
A GOP primary may also be shaping up in the 24th District Senate Race in Campbell County. Republican State Reps. Katie Stine of Fort Thomas and Jon David Reinhardt of Claryville are both eyeing the seat.
The upside of contested primaries is that Republican voters get to make a choice of which candidate they want to support.
The downside is that donors, high-profile business leaders and elected officials are forced to make a choice. And unlike voters, who make their choice in the privacy of the voting booth, those who write checks, make endorsements or are asked to work on a campaign make a public proclamation of whom they favor.
Do you go with Mr. Williams or risk feeling the wrath of the anti-abortionists, a politically active and aggressive lobby whose basic tenet is, Our way or the highway? Northern Kentucky Right to Life can be particularly hard on elected GOP officials who go against its beliefs.
Do you write a check to Mr. Robinson and volunteer on his campaign? And if you don't, do you anger Mr. Bunning, who is backing Mr. Robinson and who is probably the best-known and most popular Republican in Northern Kentucky?
Or do you go with the darkhorse Mr. Kidney and risk alienation from the GOP mainstream?
One Republican officeholder said recently, ''I have nothing to gain right now by backing any of the candidates. It can only hurt me.''
Thus are the choices and dilemmas that come with power and clout. Democrats are having a ball watching some of the Republicans squirm. But even with such problems facing the GOP, few leaders are pining for the old days.
''It is the Democrats who are meeting in the smoke-filled rooms to put just one candidate in their primary, and the Republicans who are picking their candidate in an open, three-way primary,'' said Damon Thayer, chairman of the 4th Congressional District Republican Party.
Patrick Crowley covers Kentucky politics for The Kentucky Enquirer. He can be reached at 578-5581.
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