In what has been the most engaging and interesting debate of the 2015 Kentucky Gubernatorial Race, the four Republicans seeking their Party’s nomination appeared together on the wildly popular Kentucky Sports Radio program where host Matt Jones broached a range of topics, including whether the candidates identified more with Kentucky’s senior or junior United States Senator, and whether they preferred Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari or Louisville coach Rick Pitino.
The Wednesday morning debate came a day after candidate and Commissioner of Agriculture James Comer rebuked a report in the Courier-Journal detailing allegations that he physically abused a former girlfriend while the pair were students at Western Kentucky University in the 1990’s. Opponent and former Louisville City Councilman Hal Heiner has said that he had no knowledge that members of his campaign had floated the story from a Lexington-based blogger.
Comer and Heiner were joined by Louisville businessman Matt Bevin and former Kentucky Supreme Court Justice Will T. Scott in the debate.
The debate started with a question about whether the candidates relate more to Senator Mitch McConnell or Senator Rand Paul. Though pressed by Jones for an answer, Heiner balked and said that he supports both while the other three said that they more closely identified with Paul, who’s running for President.
Asked to choose between Calipari and Pitino, the result was split. Heiner and Bevin, both from Louisville, chose the UofL coach while Scott and Comer picked Calipari.
On actual issues, Comer, Bevin, and Heiner all said that they support drug-testing recipients of state aid while Scott expressed concerns about the constitutionality for such testing. All four candidates oppose kynect, the state’s implementation of the federal health care expansion made possible through the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. Comer said that having 25% of the state’s population on Medicaid is not sustainable and that his plan calls for a healthier business climate to grow jobs for those on aid. Heiner expressed a similar position. Scott argued that there should be one federal portal for the health care expansion instead of individual state ones like kynect.Â
Bevin took the strongest opposing position to the program that has offered health care to hundreds of thousands of Kentuckians. “I will dismantle kynect,” Bevin said.Â
Medical marijuana? Scott said that science proves that it’s good for Kentuckians, while the other three were less open. Heiner said that he would be for it when it is approved by the Food & Drug Administration and Bevin said that he supports it if prescribed by a doctor. Comer is a proponent of legal industrial hemp and said that there are businesses working to create products from that material that would have the same effect of medical marijuana.
Scott also found himself as the lone supporter of casinos in Kentucky, saying that expanded gambling is the only way to cover the state’s pension debt.
On social issues, all four oppose same-sex marriage and would adopt a so-called Religious Freedom law similar to the one in Indiana that sparked national controversy earlier this year when it was perceived to adversely target gay people.
In a one on one question session with each candidate, Jones started with Bevin who said that he does not support cockfighting despite being recorded at a cockfighting event. The issue also surfaced when he ran against McConnell in last year’s Republican primary for U.S. Senate. As for his LinkedIn profile falsely suggesting that he graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Bevin said that he has not had a resume since leaving the military and that he never asserted that he had a degree from the prestigious school.
Comer called the abuse allegations against him “dirty politics at their worst” and said that he has retained high profile law firm Frost Brown Todd and that he may sue the Courier-Journal.
Scott was complimentary of Democratic Governor Steve Beshear and emphasized his plan to reduce the prison population by treating drug addicts and ensuring their access to education and job training.
Heiner maintained that he had nothing to do with the surfacing of the abuse allegations against Comer and said that the rumors circulated long before he entered the race.
All four candidates said that they would support the eventual nominee from the Republican Party, though Comer qualified his support to indicate unless something illegal had taken place, a reference to his potential legal tussle with Heiner’s campaign.
After the debate, host Matt Jones analyzed the program and said that he was “really nervous” about it and did “a lot of research”. He previously hosted last year’s Senate candidates, McConnell and Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes. “I don’t think anybody bombed,” he said. “I don’t think anybody hit it out of the park but I don’t think anybody bombed.”
CORRECTION:Â An earlier version of this article said that three candidates other than Scott opposed medical marijuana but their positions have been clarified. RCN regrets the error.
Recap by Michael Monks, editor & publisher of The River City News
Photo:Â Kentucky Governor’s mansion