Republicans here in the Bluegrass State will be heading to the polls in two weeks to decide which GOP nutbar will get a crack at destroying the state’s wildly successful Kynect insurance exchange and Medicaid expansion. So far, the polls have Louisville businessman Hal Heiner in the lead for the GOP gubernatorial nomination, ahead of KY Ag Secretary and Sudden hemp advocate James Comer, Cockfighting enthusiast and failed Senate candidate Matt Bevin, and That Other Guy Will T. Scott.
But things just got interesting with Comer waking up to this lovely story in the Louisville Courier-Journal this morning.
A woman who dated gubernatorial candidate James Comer while the two were in college said in a letter to The Courier-Journal on Monday that he was physically and mentally abusive to her during what she said was a two-year relationship.
“Did Jamie Comer ever hit me? Yes,” wrote Marilyn Thomas, who attended Western Kentucky University with Comer in the early 1990s.
Comer’s lawyer, Dick Plymale, of Lexington, said in an interview that Comer “profusely denies” all the allegations in the letter and promised a “devastating lawsuit” against the newspaper if it published the story.
Plymale went on to criticize Thomas, saying “I’ve heard unpleasant things about her personality and mental state.”
First of all, yes, Jim Comer’s lawyer is named Dick Plymale. Ruminate on that for a smidge.
Dick. Plymale.
Second, Comer is a spectacular asshole and all, and if these allegations are true, he’s even more of a spectacular asshole than I thought.
Of course, Hal Heiner is no prize either.
Republican candidate for governor Hal Heiner has apologized to fellow candidate James Comer after emails surfaced in a local newspaper linking a Heiner campaign associate with a blogger who has accused Comer of committing a crime while in college.
In a statement, Heiner personally apologized to Comer but did not admit direct involvement. He called the rumors “un-Christian” and said they were the worst kind of politics. Comer said he is disappointed with Heiner but said he is focused on winning the primary and uniting the Republican party.
And Bevin? Well, Bevin’s gonna Bevin whenever possible.
Kentucky Gubernatorial candidate Matt Bevin is challenging his three Republican rivals to participate in the “read or pie” challenge.
Donations support early literacy programs through “Read On”.
Bevin challenged them saying, “if you’re real men and care about the children of Kentucky, you’ll make a contribution and you’ll take a pie to the face. Now I will have one of my daughters do the honors”.
So far, we have only hear from Will T. Scott, who has already taken a pie to the face.
That also sums up Will T. Scott’s campaign, who has been in a distant fourth the whole time.
Democrats are running Attorney General Jack Conway, who has token opposition at best. So, November will come down to a Republican who wants to take health care away from 450,000 voters, and a Democrat who refused to defend the state’s same-sex marriage ban in court.
Which one is the bigger liability in Kentucky? We’ll find out in six months.