BY PATRICK CROWLEY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
There are safe Democratic seats left in Northern Kentucky.
That shouldn't be news to anyone even remotely aware of the region's shift toward political parity that has been years in the making but has accelerated since the 1994 Republican revolution -- both here and in Washington.
But if there is one Democrat you would expect to be looking over his shoulder at the Republican onslaught pouring down on him like a wayward herd of stampeding cattle from some old Western, it's Kenton County Commissioner Steve Arlinghaus.
But Mr. Arlinghaus, a one-term Democrat from Fort Mitchell, doesn't have the look of someone who is being hunted. He appeared downright relaxed as he enjoyed a blackened chicken pasta salad at the Greyhound Grill, one of his favorite places to have a political power lunch.
"I grew up right around the corner," Mr. Arlinghaus said, gesturing with his fork toward Sunnymeade Drive.
He now lives not too far from the Greyhound in an apartment, but is getting ready to move to Villa Hills, that very Republican suburban enclave at the other end of Buttermilk Pike.
As if he didn't have enough to worry about in retaining his fiscal court seat, Mr. Arlinghaus is setting up residence right in a GOP nest, which also happens to be the home of his opponent, Republican Adam Koenig.
"I realize where this area is going politically," he said, stabbing a slippery noodle as he talked. "A lot of people around here vote Republican."
They sure do. In droves.
County commissioners serve in geographic districts, set up so a population base like Covington can't claim all three spots on a fiscal court. But they run countywide.
Still, it's assumed the area where a commissioner or candidate lives is also where they draw their base of support. Democrat Bernie Moorman, who lives in Covington, will do well there. And newly elected commissioner Barbara Black enjoys support in and around Taylor Mill, where she has served on the city commission.
By being from Fort Mitchell and moving to Villa Hills, Mr. Arlinghaus lives in a tailor-made district -- for a Republican.
Take a look at the statehouse seat that represents the heavily GOP suburbs that line Dixie Highway from Covington to Erlanger. Democrats haven't bothered to field a candidate the last two elections. Neither incumbent Rep. Dick Murgatroyd of Villa Hills, the GOP's judge-executive candidate, nor Rep.-elect Jon Draud of Crestview Hills drew Democratic opposition in 1996 and this year, respectively.
And when the Democrats did run a candidate, in 1994, Park Hills resident Kim Hammons, Mr. Murgatroyd won easily, capturing nearly 8,500 votes of about 11,500 cast.
So not only is Mr. Arlinghaus dealing with his community's allegiance to GOP candidates, there's the matter of Mr. Koenig and the Kenton County Republican Party.
Mr. Koenig doesn't have a boatload of political experience -- one term on Villa Hills City Council -- but he turned some heads by winning the GOP primary this spring, and he has aggressively touted his own campaign while attacking Mr. Arlinghaus on a number of fronts.
And the party, under some invigorated leadership, has hired a top-notch, seasoned political consultant -- New Yorker Fred Wolf -- for the fall elections. One of the seats the party and the consultant are going after is, to absolutely no one's surprise, the one held by Mr. Arlinghaus.
"I'm not going to let politics dictate my platform," Mr. Arlinghaus emphatically stated. "I'm going to talk issues."
His issues, briefly will be:
Finding a location for a new county jail. While some on the county fiscal court have looked south and to rural locations, Mr. Arlinghaus thinks the facility should be built in or near Covington so it can remain close to the courthouse.
Local government cooperation. Mr. Arlinghaus wisely avoided the political and public relations mosh pit former Kenton County Judge-executive Clyde Middleton jumped into when he pushed for consolidating some services shared by Kenton County and its cities. But he does favor some "cooperation," such as how the county has helped repair and maintain some city-owned vehicles and equipment.
"We can do things together, and should when it saves money. But we don't need consolidation, which is something the cities obviously were against," he said.
The bidding controversy. Mr. Arlinghaus' plans to let voters know he supported fighting a lawsuit filed against the county by two developers -- Wessels Construction and Carroll Properties -- that alleged Corporex Cos. received favorable treatment in winning the bid to build the county's new $35 million courthouse. Corporex has denied the charge.
"We settled that for $850,000 of the taxpayers' money, and I thought we should have at least tried to fight it in court," he said.
Continuing work on developing parks, extending water lines and improving roads, which Mr. Arlinghaus said the court has been successful in doing.
Mr. Arlinghaus knows the Republicans are gunning for him. Whether they hit or miss, we won't know until November.
Patrick Crowley covers Kentucky politics for the Enquirer. He can be reached at 578-5581, or (502) 875-7526 in Frankfort.
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