Boone Co. commission candidate weighs defamation suit against opponent

Republican challenger Chet Hand is considering a defamation lawsuit against incumbent candidate Charlie Kenner for the website CheatingChet.com. 

The men are opponents running for the Boone County District 2 Commission seat in the Kentucky Primary Election, and during their campaigns for the seat, they have both lobbed attacks at one another about their beliefs and personal character.

While Hand has accused Kenner of telling “disgusting lies” about him along the campaign trail and online, Kenner said Hand has a record of misogyny in the party and is abusing his county chairman seat to get ahead in this race. 

Kenner claimed ownership of the website. He said it’s “well researched and well-sourced” on the claims it makes on his opponent, statements like: Hand is pro-abortion because he wants to return to county health departments rather than having a regional one. 

Some of the claims on the site link to screenshots or pictures as evidence, while others – like Hand recommending his father for the Board of Elections and placing campaign signs without proper permission – do not include attribution. 

Kenner said he felt like he had to create the website to expose Hand.

“I’m tired of him lying,” he said. “It’s all true and it’s sourced.” 

Hand said the website and other claims Kenner has made may be grounds for defamation, which is an option he is considering. 

“I have recorded, documented evidence of him lying,” Hand said. 

Some of the accusations against Hand go beyond the website and the campaign, and reveal a growing rift in the county party. 

In an initial interview for LINK nky’s coverage of the Boone County commission race, Kenner claimed his opponent said women weren’t smart enough for Republican Party leadership in Boone County. He said the comments came in response to a question during a party meeting earlier this year. 

“They’ve gotten rid of all women in leadership,” Kenner said. “An active woman in our party asked the question at a meeting, ‘Why are there no women?’ He said, ‘There’s none smart enough.’” 

When asked about the statement, Hand laughed and said Kenner “is on record telling lies” about him. Hand said he records the Republican meetings and provided a short video of the interaction to LINK nky. 

The video shows Phyllis Sparks, former party interim chair who is running for Kentucky Senate District 20, raising her hand to ask the question, “Are females allowed to play in this game?” 

“Absolutely,” Hand is heard replying off-screen. 

“I haven’t seen anyone,” Sparks said on the recording. “I don’t see anyone up there. I don’t see any on your screen. But what I have seen is you removed one.”  

Hand then explains to Sparks and the room that he is open to anyone participating, but “I don’t have as many names submitted as I would prefer.” 

Former vice chairperson for the party, Emily Shelton, was also present for that meeting. 

Since Hand has taken leadership of the party, she said, “it’s not a very welcoming place for women at all.” 

She told LINK she didn’t recall Hand saying women weren’t capable of leading the party, but she said Hand’s actions have raised questions about his views on female leadership. 

“If I would have heard exactly what he said, I probably would have got up and ripped his head off,” Shelton said. “I did not hear it as clearly as Phyllis did, but the sentiment was certainly there. … I know it’s true because actions speak louder than words. They just have no room for women in any type of leadership.” 

Shelton said she was asked to organize the Boone County Republican Party’s Christmas party after Hand took leadership as the chairperson in 2021, and “I busted my butt because I was trying to build a relationship with him.” 

She said she raised $20,000, “three times what we’ve ever gotten before” at the Christmas party. 

“As soon as it was over, and as soon as he was finished counting the money, he calls me up and he says, ‘I need you to resign,’ and I said, ‘Why?’ and he says, ‘Because our county committee never got a chance to select the Board of Elections member,’ and I said, ‘And?’” Shelton recalled. “Have I done something? Is there something wrong? And he couldn’t point to any misfeasance or malfeasance. He just wanted to be able to appoint his own board member.” 

Multiple Republican Party members have questioned Hand’s decision to run for a county office while serving as chairman of the Republican Party, and have accused him of replacing female party leaders with men of his church congregation and his personal friends. 

In response, Hand explained “some of them do” attend the same church as he does, but he said a larger group of around 85 people from his church came together in an effort to regain control of Kenton, Campbell, and Boone counties’ Republican Parties last year. 

“When we did the, let’s just call it ‘the takeover’ of the party last year during the reorganization, it was primarily people that I knew, people that were of like mind that were part of that effort,” Hand said. 

He said most of them were connected to a different group they started in Fort Wright.

“Boone County was not the only target,” Hand said. “We were looking at a scenario where the good ole boys are running all of Northern Kentucky, so we targeted Kenton, Campbell and Boone counties. We were successful in Campbell and in Boone in the reorganization process. That whole group was part of that effort.”

Hand said Kenner and other county leaders are part of that “good ole boys club” that his group is working to disband. 

“He says I’m a career politician, but I’m not,” Kenner said. “I’m a dentist.” 

So far, Hand and Kenner have garnered nearly equal amounts of support in terms of fundraising. While Kenner said he has the backing of Congressman Thomas Massie, Hand is operating with Steve Rawlings’ endorsement, who is running to represent Kentucky’s 64th district. 

If Hand moves forward with a defamation suit, the candidates may be feeling the results of this election long after the votes are counted.