At a recent Ludlow City Council meeting, councilmembers voted in favor of a resolution to give mayor Chris Wright the authority to oppose controversial proposed Senate Bill 50 and House Bill 50 that were filed in January.
The concurrent bills would require the Democrat, Republican, Independent or other party affiliations’ label to be disclosed for all local campaigns and elections.
Senate Bill 50 is sponsored by Senate Majority Floor Leader Damon Thayer (R-Georgtown), whose district stretches into southern Kenton County. House Bill 50 is sponsored by Rep. Matt Lockett (R-Nicholasville).
This would affect the county commissioner, mayor, all city officials, legislative body members, city and education boards, as well as soil and water conservation officers.
The resolution grants Ludlow’s mayor the power to send a copy of the opposition to city, state and senate representatives, as well as to take other reasonable actions to make state bodies and the governor aware of Ludlow’s position on the bills.
The bill would be a boon for republicans across local elections as there are more registered republican voters in Kentucky than other party affiliations.
However, the Ludlow mayor and councilmembers disagree with the transparency argument. Transparency is not an issue that Ludlow voters significantly complain about during campaign seasons, it was noted at the meeting. The question infrequently comes up and such a partisan requirement would cause several new issues for which they believe the cost outweighs the benefits.
First, as Wright pointed out in the recent session, the requirement would create a large financial burden on an already slim candidate pool for Ludlow. Making these types of elections partisan would require additional primaries, which adds election and organizational costs that currently do not exist.
Finding quality candidates is already challenging enough, he says, and adding new costs, not to mention the possible acrimony that could come with party affiliations, just isn’t going to attract great people to run for office.
“Should either Senate Bill 50 or House Bill 50 pass, it’s gonna be an exorbitant cost to both folks who want to run as well as to the county clerk,” Wright said.
Also, since positions such as city council are two-year terms, if the bill passes, it will mean officials in such positions will continually have to think about campaigning, which distracts from doing the job.
Second, Kentucky is a Home Rule Class state, which means cities within Kentucky have the power to govern themselves as they see fit. Mayor Wright said that if Ludlow wanted partisan elections, they would opt to create them and shouldn’t be forced by the state. Current statute already allows for candidates to place their party affinity on the ballots if they choose.
Finally, Wright said people often do not see local issues in the same way they do federal ones. Requiring designation of political party affiliations may mislead voters into voting for the party and not for the person who actually is qualified to serve a local position best.
In the Senate, the bill has been assigned to The Senate State and Local Government Committee and awaits further action. In the House, it has been awaits committee assignment.
