VILLA HILLS — Kenton County Republican Commissioner Adam Koenig, who shocked the local political establishment five years ago by winning upset primary and general election victories, has kicked off his re-election campaign.

        Mr. Koenig, 32, held a campaign fund-raiser Thursday at the Fort Mitchell home of Republican Party activists Rick and Linda Robinson. The event raised $7,500, which Mr. Koenig said gives him $14,000 for his campaign.

        Though he made his formal campaign announcement at Thursday's event, Mr. Koenig said he started campaigning door-to-door in August.

        “The responses I have received have been extremely positive, from both the citizens whose doors I knock on to the financial contributors to my campaign,” he said.

        To date, Mr. Koenig does not have an opponent. But it appears he is likely to face challenges in the May 2002 GOP primary as well as that November's general election.

        Fort Mitchell councilman Michael Plummer is considering challenging Mr. Koenig in the Republican primary.

        And the Democrats will run for Mr. Koenig's fiscal court seat in the 2002 general election, Nathan Smith, a spokesman for the Kenton County Democratic Party, said Friday.

        “Absolutely, we will have a candidate,” said Mr. Smith, a member of the Kenton County Democratic Executive Committee.

        The Democrats have been focusing on the judge-executive's race, Mr. Smith said. Last week, Fort Wright Democrat Patrick Hughes announced he will challenge Republican incumbent Judge-executive Dick Murgatroyd in next year's election.

        “We've all been working on the judge-executive's race,” Mr. Smith said. “We still have three months until the filing deadline, but we have several people interested in the race.”

        Mr. Koenig had served one term on Villa Hills City Council when he decided to run for county commission in 1998, but he was not well-known by voters countywide.

        But in the GOP primary that year, he beat Don Freese, who had the backing of most Republican Party leaders, then went on to defeat Democratic incumbent Steve Arlinghaus in the general election.

        Mr. Koenig said in next year's race he will run on a platform that includes improvements the county fiscal court has made in the area of public safety.

        The improvements include:

        • Upgrading the county's 911 communications system.

        • Installing storm-warning sirens throughout the county.

        • Equipping county police cruisers with defibrillators and laptop computers.

        “The protection of our citizens is the first role of government, and this fiscal court has made it the top priority,” Mr. Koenig said.

        But Democrats have already made an issue about Mr. Koenig's votes to raise the county's property, utility and payroll taxes.

        Mr. Koenig has previously said that he voted for the increases because the county needed to money to build a new county jail and provide some services to residents.

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