KY Dems Oust House DINO While Saving Seat

Now come the hard part: preventing the repugs - who have candidates in 91 of 100 House seats - from netting three Democratic seats in November and turning the beautiful Bluegrass into an all-repug Haitian hellscape.

Jack Brammer at the Herald:

Two of the 11 state House incumbents facing party opposition Tuesday in Kentucky’s primary election went down to defeat.

Louisville lawmakers Tom Riner, a Democrat, and Ron Crimm, a Republican, lost their bids for re-election.

Riner, a Baptist pastor who has been in the House since 1982, was ousted by Attica Scott, a former member of the Louisville Metro Council, in the 41st House District. She has no opposition in the fall election.

Scott was helped by state Rep. Mary Lou Marzian, D-Louisville, and former state Rep. Eleanor Jordan, D-Louisville, who signed a direct-mail letter to voters in the district saying Riner didn’t share their values.

Riner has been criticized by some Democrats for not caucusing with House Democrats and for introducing Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis to the conservative Liberty Counsel group for legal advice in her battle against issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Riner also surprised his House colleagues in 2013 when, in a floor speech, he gave a forceful speech against sexual harassment shortly after two veteran employees filed complaints against a state lawmaker.

SNIP

Tuesday’s House elections to select party nominees set the stage for a contentious fight between Democrats and Republicans for control of the Kentucky House of Representatives in the Nov. 8 general election.

Republicans think they have a good chance of wresting control of the House from Democrats for the first time since 1921. They fielded candidates in 91 of the 100 House districts up for election this year.

Republicans now control the state Senate and the governor’s office. The Kentucky House is the last legislative chamber in the South with a majority of Democrats.

SNIP

Democrats now outnumber Republicans in the state House 53-47 after winning three of four special elections in March.