Saturday, June 26, 1999
GOP gloats on getting Democrats
Bunning at announcement
BY PATRICK CROWLEY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
BURLINGTON — Stunned Democrats expressed surprise and bewilderment Friday after two Boone County Democratic officeholders made high-profile defections to the Republican Party.
GOP leaders, including Southgate Republican U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning, turned out in force on the steps of the Boone County Administration Building to welcome Boone County Sheriff Mike Helmig and Commonwealth Attorney Willie Mathis Jr. into the party.
“This makes 490,” Mr. Bunning told a crowd of cheering Republicans, referring to the number of elected officials who have switched parties since Democrat Bill Clinton was elected to the White House in 1992.
“And we still have a year-and-half to go,” he said. “Boone County is a county on the move. I couldn't be more proud of the fact of what has happened in Boone County. It's spectacular.”
The defections are yet another example of the stunning rise of the Republican Party in Boone County, which today is the largest GOP-controlled county in Kentucky, but which 17 years ago had just 4,900 Republicans to 13,468 Democrats.
“When I was a young voter first registering to vote in this county, there was no doubt which party you chose,” said Mr. Mathis, 54, a Walton native who lives in the Oakbrook subdivision near Burlington and who has been in office since 1974.
“There was only one viable (party). All the elections were decided in the Democratic primary,” he said.
Boone County Democratic Party Chairwoman Kristi Nelson said she was disappointed “to lose two people elected on the Democratic ballot and who served the people of Boone County under the Democratic banner.”
“We're talking about people who have been affiliated with the Democrats for 20 years or more,” Ms. Nelson said. “When someone changes and suddenly aligns with another party, it calls into question the veracity of their reasoning.”
Both Mr. Mathis, who is up for re-election next year, and Mr. Helmig, said they are changing parties for personal, not political reasons.
“I hope that this decision is in no way misconstrued as anything other than for my own personal belief and philosophy of government,” said Mr. Helmig, 39, who was elected to a four-year term in November.
Democrats think otherwise.
“It blatantly looks like they are changing parties now beBooneBooneHelmig, Mathis leave for GOPcause the number of Republicans outnumber the Democrats,” Ms. Nelson said. “Words like "disingenuous' and "opportunist' come to mind.”
“People have the right to do what they want politically,” said Boone County Clerk Marilyn Rouse, one of the few remaining Democratic office holders in the county.
“But I have no plan to switch. And if people in Boone County don't think Democrats have Christian values and a conservative philosophy of govern ment, then they don't know me and they don't know Boone County Democrats,” she said.
The loss of Mr. Helmig, a rising political star, and Mr. Mathis, who has held office longer than any other elected official in Northern Kentucky, are particularly damaging to the Democrats, who have suffered other defections and a brutal loss at the ballot box last fall.
“Today's event proves that the Republican Party has much to offer,” said Boone County Judge executive Gary Moore, who led a GOP sweep of the county fiscal court in November.
Several Republican Party officials traced the rise of the party to thousands of new residents — Boone County is one of the fastest growing counties in Kentucky — and the conservative nature of the region.
“We have the candidates, the platform and the philosophy people want,” said Boone County GOP Chairman Ed Moore. “And we're only going to continue to grow and be successful by attracting officials and people like Mike Helmig and Willie Mathis.”
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