Two Northern Kentucky educators with different views on issues impacting public schools are squaring off in a battle for the 68th House District seat that crosses urban and suburban Campbell County.
Mike Clines, an Alexandria Republican, is a longtime NKY private school educator first elected to represent the district in 2022. His challenger is Fort Thomas Democrat Brandon Long, a Harlan County-born school teacher, ordained minister and director of education at Trinity Episcopal Covington.
Both men spent years teaching at private schools, with Long most recently teaching second grade students in private schools in Cincinnati and Clines most recently serving as an administrator in the Diocese of Covington school system.
Long, who is gay, said he is running on a “Kids First” platform that he said attempts to make space for everyone, including transgender students. Part of his inspiration, he said, comes from the Kentucky state flag and its emblem of a statesman and pioneer.
“That’s the true spirit of Kentucky,” Long said. “That’s how we’ve been – and we need to get back to that. If I’m a state representative, I will be a representative for all, and I would expect you to tell me your opinions.”
Clines told LINK he is running on his record, including votes to increase funding for the district’s public schools, safeguard the due process rights of certified teachers, improve services for children on the autism spectrum and secure nearly $34 million for both roads and other local projects. The Campbell County native said he has built a strong network of personal and professional relationships both through the education community and beyond that he sees as a strength going forward.
“These relationships have enabled me to be an effective advocate for our community, bringing about tangible benefits for our district,” Clines told LINK.
Clines said he’s in office to help the district and represent its interests, which he said he has done.
“My constituents expect me to be active in the community, to be a tireless advocate for their needs and to stand up for their best interests,” Clines said. “They look for leadership that prioritizes addressing the housing shortage, bolstering child care, enhancing education, improving health care, reducing taxes and boosting infrastructure. They also expect me to support job creation, employee benefits and economic development while staying deeply connected to the values and concerns of Campbell County and Northern Kentucky.”
Long took issue with at least two of Clines’ votes. One was the first-term lawmaker’s vote for 2023 Senate Bill 150, a law limiting student gender expression in public schools and access to gender-affirming health care for minors, among other provisions. This year, Clines voted to put on the ballot Amendment 2 – a proposed constitutional amendment to allow state lawmakers to fund K-12 education outside of public schools.
Long opposes both SB 150 and the proposed amendment that, in his words, would allow money to be moved out of public schools already struggling for funding. As for SB 150, Long had a more personal story.
The 37 year old said he survived numerous attempts to “treat” his homosexuality via conversion therapy starting when he was in sixth grade. He said it sent him the message that there was something wrong with him that had to be fixed.
Part of SB 150 requires parental notification before a student struggling with mental health or other health issues can be referred to school health services – effectively removing school as a “safe space,” Long said.
“I remember little Brandon in 1999 in sixth grade trying to figure myself out, terrified of Matthew Shepard [a Wyoming gay man murdered in a 1998 hate crime], couldn’t really trust my family to come out to, so now imagine all of those children right now who hear about the legislation, hear the rhetoric,” Long told LINK. “If you remove those resources [from students] that’s not a safe space. My constituents can expect me to put kids first in every legislative decision.”
House District 68 includes parts of Highland Heights and Alexandria.