Northern Kentucky’s law enforcement community backed Sen. Rand Paul with an official endorsement Tuesday at Covington’s Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) Lodge.
The endorsement comes on the heels of the Kentucky FOP announcing the candidates they support ahead of the Nov. 8 elections.
Ryan Straw, the vice president and governmental affairs director for the Kentucky state FOP, said the group makes endorsements of important races all around the state.
“This one being one of our top priorities was making sure we retain the senator that supports the beliefs that are against defunding us, and that man is Senator Rand Paul,” Straw said.
After Straw, Kenton County Sheriff Chuck Korzenborn talked about why he supports the Kentucky senator, who has held the seat since 2011.
“We have a choice in the next two years of either becoming a republic or a communist oligarchy,” Korzenborn said. “If it wasn’t for people like (Paul) and (former president Donald) Trump for being in office and getting the Supreme Court in line the way it is, I don’t know where we’d be right now.”
Paul, a Republican, who faces former state House Rep. Charles Booker, a Louisville Democrat, said he is excited to have the endorsement of the FOP in Northern Kentucky and across the state.
“We have the endorsements of over 20 sheriffs across the state, and we think there’s going to be more to come,” Paul said before he dug into the issue of crime across the country.
“Any time you look at national surveys, people are worried about their safety,” Paul said.
He went on to speak about how he differs from Booker, who did not respond to requests for comment for this story.
“His advocacy for defunding the police is very much out of step with Kentucky,” Paul said.