Get Off Our Backs: Thank the folks who created the Leaderless Republic of Lexington, KY

The Senate passed the bill, the House approved it and the Governor signed it.

That’s how the heart of Fayette County came to be the Leaderless Republic of Lexington, Kentucky.

Over the past 48 hours, we’ve directed our concerns and voices at the people in positions of power who could have put a stop to the disenfranchisement of 90,000+ voters in the Commonwealth’s 2nd largest city.

By and large, our voices were ignored. Now it is time to take stock and name names.

GOVERNOR STEVE BESHEAR

Thank the Governor for his spinelessness. Thank him for recognizing the terrible bill for what it was and thank him for signing it anyway. He’s owned by King Coal, he’s turning the state into the Creationist Dinosaur joke of America… and now he’s taken away the most powerful woman in the State Senate.

And he did it all effortlessly. With literally no effort. He didn’t even try.

Let’s all remember that when he asks for our help, our support, or our money in the future.

Thank Steve:

PHONE:  502-564-2611

TWITTER: @GovSteveBeshear

EMAIL: Online Form

LEXINGTON AREA REPRESENTATIVES

Thanks go out to most of our representatives, too. Alice Forgy Kerr represents Lexington in the Senate. Her constituents are your friends and neighbors, your family and co-workers. In many cases, her constituents are you. She needs votes in her district and she’s sure to lose them now. Thank Alice Forgy Kerr for sending a positive message to women everywhere by kowtowing to the GOP leadership’s misogyny. Way to go, Alice. Way to go.

Phone Number:  (502) 564-8100 Ext. 625
Email:  Alice.Kerr@lrc.ky.gov

And let us not forget the State Reps, the good Democrats in the State House who represent Lexington — Sannie Overly, Jessie Crenshaw, Bob Damron and Ruth Ann Palumbo.

These brave fellow-party members blindly followed Greg Stumbo’s leadership and each one of them cast a vote to disenfranchise the heart of Fayette County. Each one of them voted to remove Kathy Stein from office. That’s how they thank you for your support so now it’s time to thank them.

And the saddest part… they didn’t even have to! The House voted 58 to 39. None of them had to bow down to Greg Stumbo’s laughable leadership. Each one of them could have easily voted against throwing Kathy Stein out of office and Stumbo’s power would have remained in tact, the bill still would have passed.

But they didn’t. They didn’t even have the courage to do that. Thank them.

• Rep. Sannie Overly – sannie.overly@lrc.ky.gov – (502) 564-8100 Ext. 752
• Rep. Jesse Crenshaw – Email Form – (502) 564-8100 Ext. 620
• Rep. Bob Damron – Robert.Damron@lrc.ky.gov – (502) 564-2217
• Rep. Ruth Ann Palumbo – RuthAnn.Palumbo@lrc.ky.gov – (502) 564-8100 Ext. 600

GREG STUMBO

Oh, Greg Stumbo. There are so many words for you. Two words in particular come to mind.

Thank You.

You played politics and you lost. Badly. You got embarrassed. And then you didn’t have the guts to try to fix the problem. You had no guts. You led a House movement to toy with districts and David Williams went nuclear in response. And you had the chance to fight David Williams and you didn’t.

Thank You, Greg Stumbo. Thank you. Give the man some love:

Rep. Greg Stumbo (D)
House Speaker
Annex: (502) 564-2363
Capitol: (502) 564-3366
Email: Email Form
Email: greg.stumbo@lrc.ky.gov

DAVID WILLIAMS & DAMON THAYER

You are little men. Thank you.

DAVID WILLIAMS
Senate President
Phone Number(s)
Home: (270) 433-7777
Annex: (502) 564-3120
Work: (270) 864-5636

DAMON THAYER
David Williams’ Dolph Starbeam
Phone Number(s)
Home: (859) 621-6956
Home: (502) 868-6086 (fax)
Annex: (502) 564-8100 Ext. 644

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And not to be lost in any of this is a few people who do deserve thanks.

KELLY FLOOD

She voted against Stumbo and against this bill. She voted for Kathy Stein and for Lexington voters. She also gave a rousing speech on the House floor before the vote, and she wrote this in the Herald Leader:

Even under the most partisan of normal redistricting, the people ultimately retain the right of final decision about whom they wish to represent them. This proposal uses an underhanded, legal technicality to remove our right to vote.

What can the House, and I as a Lexington representative, do? We can play along with these shameful tactics and disenfranchise our fellow Lexingtonians for the next two years. Or we can refuse to play that game and put the people of the commonwealth first.

I chose to vote “no” on House Bill 1. And to further protest this method of redistricting ourselves, I changed my “yes” vote from two days ago for the House redistricting plan to “no.”

Thank you, Rep. Flood, for doing what was right when the powerful forces in the state’s Democratic Party abandoned us.

Rep. Kelly Flood – Kelly.Flood@lrc.ky.gov – (502) 564-8100 Ext. 675

JULIAN CARROLL:

State Senator Carroll wrote this to a constituent yesterday:

I stood on the floor yesterday and spoke totally against this political charade.  As a member of the Senate minority, I only first saw the new map yesterday.  It was presented and passed in committee, brought to the floor and passed without any consideration.

Even you, as a constituent, had no opportunity to voice your personal feelings.   It is a sad day for our Commonwealth.

Thank you, sir:

• Email: Julian.Carroll@lrc.ky.gov
• Phone: (502) 564-8100 Ext. 651

KATHY W. STEIN

Send Kathy some love. Tell her to keep fighting. More importantly, tell her that you will fight alongside her. While Steve Beshear and the party leadership stabbed her in the back and stabbed her in the front, you rallied around her and you aren’t going anywhere.

Tell us where to go and we’ll go where you tell us.

Thank you, Kathy Stein:

Kathy.Stein@lrc.ky.gov