This story originally appeared in the Jan. 19 edition of the LINK Weekly Reader.
Dave Meyer spent the last five months recruiting candidates for Kentucky’s state and senate races. The vice president of the Kenton Democrats said the result was not exactly what he was looking for.
“I called about 100 people to ask if they were interested (in running for office); about 90% to 95% said they were flattered and honored,” Meyer said.
The next day, he said, they called him back and told him they wanted to stay involved, but not this year. Civic participation in this primary election in the political elections was “good, but not great,” he told LINK nky.
As of the Jan. 5 filing deadline to run for office in Kentucky, 40% of House and state candidates are running unopposed.
In Northern Kentucky as a whole, there are several local uncontested primary races:
Uncontested race in Boone County:
- County Circuit Court Clerk: David Martin of Florence (Republican)
Uncontested races in Campbell County:
- Circuit Clerk 19th District: Taunya Nolan Jack, California, Kentucky (Republican)
- Newport Mayor: Thomas L. Guidugli of Newport (Nonpartisan)
- Highland Heights City Council: R. Alex Bramel (Nonpartisan)
Uncontested races in Kenton County:
- Commonwealth’s Attorney 16th district: Rob Sanders, Fort Mitchell (Republican)
- Circuit Court Clerk: John C. Middleton, Independence (Republican)
- Covington Mayor: Ron Washington (Nonpartisan)
Campbell County Clerk Jim Luersen said there was no concern over these uncontested races, because certain barriers tend to leave some primary races uncontested regularly.
To run for circuit clerk, for example, a candidate must have passed an exam taken by Nov. 17. For a commonwealth attorney, one must have a law degree.
“For a lot of people, it’s a sign of confidence from the other side,” Kenton County Clerk Gabrielle Summe said of the uncontested races in her county. “That, or they couldn’t find someone to run.”
Meyer said the hang-up for multiple political offices is the need for a lot of time, plus minimal pay.
“It consumes a lot of time,” Meyer said. “It offers very little pay, and there is often a lot of scrutiny that accompanies it.”
Meyer added that the formal requirement for state Legislature is three to four hours a week, but he and the Democratic Party ask for about 20 hours in order for someone to be a good candidate. The pay is about $22,000 annually.
“If you are a mid-30-year-old trying to get your career on track and raise a family, there’s just a lot of conflict there to run for city commission or any of these local offices, given the headaches that are involved,” he said.
The current mayor of Covington, Meyer’s father, Joe Meyer, is leaving the office at the end of his term. Current Commissioner Ron Washington is the only candidate who filed to replace him.
“I think the mayor pulls in the big dollars at $30,000, $35,000 a year and works about 60 hours a week,” Meyer said. “The reality is Joe Meyer is doing this for the cause, not for the money. Same thing with Ron. That’s part of the problem when you are talking about why people don’t want to do this. No one is ever in it for the money, but there is a trade-off when the opportunity cost is real.”
Meyer also said one thing he and his Republican opponents look at is the electability of a candidate.
“Anyone who is running for office or recruiting for candidates is going to calculate how likely it is to win and how motivated your side or someone on your side might be,” Meyer said. “So if they are going up against a popular or prominent opponent who is tough to beat, it’s harder to win that and harder to find someone to try and win that than if there is a weak candidate who is offensive to your party.”
Former Republican Kentucky Secretary of State, Trey Grayson, said he thinks the amount of uncontested races is an issue.
“We need good people to run,” Grayson said. “It is a sacrifice to do it, but it’s rewarding. We need good people to run and hold people accountable. It keeps people on their toes when they have someone running against them in the primary or the general elections.”
Grayson said that when he had a challenger in 2007, he had to prove he was up to the task of being re-elected and that he would do a good job.
“I admire everyone that runs. If you don’t run, you can’t win,” he said. “There are always improvements that can be made.”
He also said voter turnout rises when there is a tightly contested race.
“That‘s when you get more turnout — when it’s competitive,” Grayson said. “When there are uncontested races, people ask, ‘Why would I go out and vote?’”