Rand Paul, Jack Conway win big in county, statewide primary

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette

Tuesday, May 18, 2010, 11:54 p.m. -- Just as he did across the state, here in Nelson County Rand Paul gave Secretary of State Trey Grayson an old-fashioned whoopin’ in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate.

In Nelson County, Paul received landslide category 70 percent of the votes cast, besting Grayson by nearly a 3-to-1 margin. Statewide, Paul won 59 percent of the votes cast. The Kentucky State Board of Elections reported the voter turnout in Nelson County was 36 percent. The statewide average was 33 percent.

If there was doubt that the Tea Party movement has clout, the results of Tuesday’s primary should settle those doubts.

For Grayson, the loss is probably more a sign of the times than a reflection on any lacking of his qualifications to be a U.S. Senator. Grayson was portrayed as the “establishment” candidate, a label from which he never shied away.

Paul ran a campaign as more than a Washington outsider; he ran with the conviction that it was the “establishment” candidates from both parties that helped our country get into the financial condition it is now in.

Grayson’s campaign attacked Paul on numerous fronts, charging that he was full of “strange ideas” and  couldn’t win against a Democratic candidate in November.

CONWAY BEATS MONGIARDO. In a race too close to call, Attorney General Jack Conway handily beat Lt. Gov Dan Mongiardo in the Democratic Senate primary, 4,396 votes to 2,558, or 57.75 percent of the vote.

During a stop Sunday in Bardstown, Mongiardo said his campaign numbers were up all over the state.

The Democratic Senate primary was expected to be tight, and most pundits predicted Mongiardo would win by a slim margin. In statewide totals, the race was much closer.

At press time, with 119 of 120 counties reporting, Conway held a narrow lead over Mongiardo, 43.91 percent of the vote to 43.23 percent, with a margin of about 3,500 votes between them. The three other candidates in the Democratic primary may have played the role of spoiler for Mongiardo by siphoning off votes he or Conway may have received.

Paul and Conway will face off in the November election to see which will fill the seat by Kentucky Sen. Jim Bunning.

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