Monday, February 01, 1999
Gov. Patton sitting pretty
Ky. Democrats crow at weak GOP field
BY PATRICK CROWLEY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Republicans failed to field a strong challenge to Gov. Paul Patton because he couldn't be beaten, leading Democrats are claiming.
“A lot of conservatives who might otherwise be clamoring for a Republican challenger are pretty happy with the status quo,” said Crestview Hills lawyer David Kramer, a member of the Kenton County Democratic Executive Committee.
The Kentucky Republican Party failed last week to recruit a strong gubernatorial candidate even though GOP leaders claim Mr. Patton — the first governor eligible to seek a consecutive term since 1804 — could be defeated on his record.
Two little-known candidates filed, meaning the GOP will have a gubernatorial primary in May but only token opposition to Mr. Patton in the fall:
• Peppy Martin, a Hart County public relations writer who served in Gov. Louie Nunn's Republican administration 25 years ago but who has never been elected to office.
• David L. Williams, 60, of Columbia, who ran as a Democrat in the 1998 primary for U.S. Senate, finishing fifth in a six-man field.
Workers' compensation reform legislation that Mr. Patton pushed through the General Assembly two years ago is an example of his success, Mr. Kramer said.
The legislation, which makes it more difficult in many cases for injured workers to collect benefits, was supported by business groups including the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Com merce.
Mr. Patton also signed two out of three anti-abortion bills the General Assembly passed last year. One bill regulated the two clinics in Lexington and Louisville performing abortions; the other outlawed so-called “partial birth” abortions.
“Paul Patton has taken a lot of politically courageous stands,” Mr. Kramer said. “He obviously defied the wishes of labor and trial attorneys with workers' comp reform. And by signing two anti-abortion bills he sure did not play well with a lot of feminists.”
Republicans thought Mr. Patton could be damaged politically because he vetoed a third bill designed to curb abortions. That bill, which was overridden by the General Assembly, was known as the informed-consent bill. It requires a woman to wait 24 hours before receiving an abortion and mandates the abortion provider or a social worker give the patient information about alternatives.
“That's something you'll hear about on the campaign trail,” eastern Kentucky banker Mike Duncan said.
But Mr. Duncan was among the Republicans who considered running against Mr. Patton but decided against getting in the race.
Republicans also thought they could attack Mr. Patton for not using more of Kentucky's $316 million budget surplus to cut taxes.
“Paul Patton has performed poorly on the pocketbook issues,” said Randy Kammerdiener, director of the Kentucky Republican Party.
“He had the opportunity to return some of that surplus money to the taxpayers, but instead he chose to create a bunch of pork barrel projects all over the state,” he said.
Democrats counter by saying Mr. Patton did reduce the state's tax on vehicles, though Republicans say he should have cut it more deeply.
And the governor moved to eliminate the 25-cent tax on prescriptions.
“Democrats have been cutting taxes in this state for the last eight years under Brereton Jones and Paul Patton,” said Mark Guilfoyle, a Walton lawyer and member of Mr. Patton's campaign team.
Mr. Patton did use millions in the surplus to pay for projects across the state and in Northern Kentucky, including $36.5 million for the Northern Kentucky University Science Center.
“Northern Kentucky fared very well under Paul Patton when it came to money for projects,” said House Majority Caucus Chairman Jim Callahan, D-Wilder.
Republicans say Mr. Patton, like President Clinton, has enjoyed popularity among voters because of the strength of the state's economy.
Unemployment is at a historic low in the state and below the national average. And in the last three years in Kentucky, thousands of jobs have been created and hundreds of companies have moved to or expanded in the state.
In Northern Kentucky during 1998, nearly 7,000 new jobs were created and 251 companies relocated or expanded operations.
“The governor has had the good fortune to hold office during one of the best economic times we've ever had in Kentucky,” said state Rep. Brian Crall, R-Owensboro, who was heavily recruited by the GOP to run for governor.
Richard Beliles, chairman of Common Cause Kentucky, a campaign finance watchdog group, said a good economy helps an incumbent more than just through job creation and low unemployment.
“States flush with cash have money to spend,” Mr. Beliles said. “A lot of that money goes to contractors and a lot of projects, and when you do things like that in Kentucky, a lot of money in the form of campaign contributions goes flowing back to Democratic headquarters in Frankfort, making an incumbent even harder to beat.”
Republicans were also eager to tie Mr. Patton to a campaign scandal involving members of his administration and labor leaders who helped him get elected in 1995.
Mr. Patton's chief of staff and top aide, Andrew “Skipper” Martin, labor liaison Danny Ross, and Louisville Teamsters Local 89 President Lon Fields and Secretary-treasurer Robert Winstead were indicted for allegedly scheming to circumvent campaign finance restrictions.
All have pleaded innocent. And Democrats point out none has been convicted and Mr. Patton, though investigated in the matter, was not indicted.
Another hot issue would have been health insurance reform. Because of legislation passed largely during the previous administration of Mr. Jones, all but one insurance company has stopped selling individual policies in the state. Rates also have risen.
The companies claim they can't make money in Kentucky and won't do business here because of regulations passed by the Democratic-controlled legislature.
“You know what a mess our health care system is in Kentucky,” Mr. Duncan said. “You know it's been the last two Democratic administrations that have gotten us into that mess with health care.”
The Democrats say Mr. Patton called a special legislative session two years ago to deal with the problem, but the General Assembly failed to pass a bill.
A campaign finance law that favors incumbents, a strong economy and the difficulty of taking on a sitting Democratic governor in a state where Republicans are outnumbered kept the credible GOP hopefuls out of the race, Republican leaders say.
“I don't think there's any question Paul Patton has some vulnerabilities,” Mr. Kammerdiener said.
“But this year the Democrats just had too many built-in advantages.”
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