Save Kathy Stein — Here’s what you can do…

UPDATE: The Democrat-controlled House passed the bill. Senator Kathy Stein’s Lexington seat is no more… unless Steve Beshear refuses to sign it.

CALL THE GOVERNOR NOW: 502-564-2611.

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She’s represented us for over a decade. Now it’s our turn to represent her. [Join/share the facebook group.]

Senate Republicans are trying to redistrict Kathy Stein out of office. Unable to defeat her, David Williams and Damon Thayer are trying to silence her (Herald | CN2). So many of the other Democrats in Frankfort often prove helpful to the state’s Republican Party, but Kathy isn’t one of them. So Williams and Thayer have decided she must go.

But to them we say: Hell No!

Let’s do this backwards. We’ll start with the numbers you need to call and the people you need to contact.

The State Senate’s “Committee on State and Local Government” passed this ridiculous plan to usurp democracy on Wednesday along party lines. The full Senate then voted on and passed it (with one “democrat”, Joey Pendleton of Hopkinsville, breaking ranks).

The Senate version now goes back to the House. It is imperative these elected officials hear from you now.

Jam their phone lines, overflow their inboxes. Show them what happens when they threaten the 13th:

***LEXINGTON/FAYETTE COUNTY OFFICIALS***

Our LFUCG elected officials are elected to represent us. They have power and they have friends. You tell them what to do. Boss them around. Tell them to tell everyone they know in Frankfort to put a stop to this madness. Lexington must be represented by someone from Lexington, not some random person from Henderson none of us know.

Mayor Jim Gray — mayor@lexingtonky.gov – Office: (859) 258-3100

City Council Members — you can email all of them at once here: councilmembers@lexingtonky.gov.

Or, you can email them individually or call them directly using this easy-peasy directory.

Kathy Stein represents much of Lexington, which means she also represents our city council members when they need something done in Frankfort. If the Williams/Thayer plan goes through, our City Council members will be begging somebody who doesn’t live anywhere near Lexington for help. Tell ‘em to tell Frankfort to back the LFUCG off of us.

***HOUSE LEADERSHIP***

Basically what happens next is the Senate approved plan goes back to the House. The House must approve it. The House is controlled by Democrats. The two chambers have a “gentleman’s agreement” to accept each other’s plans. Under that agreement, one could expect the House to approve the Senate plan to disappear Kathy Stein.

But… there is time for you to change their minds… or at least give them a piece of your mind.

The House Republicans have their own complaints about the House redistricting plan. In essence the two dipsticks running this show have played each other into an idiotic game of brinksmanship. You could view that as a total failure of American democracy, or you could see it as an opportunity for compromise.

Greg Stumbo’s in the driver’s seat and while maybe he could give a damn about Kathy Stein, I’m guessing he and the other Dem leaders will at the very least get the message when you flood their offices with input:

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

Rep. Larry Clark (D)
Speaker Pro Tempore
Phone: (502) 564-7520
Email: Larry.Clark@lrc.ky.gov

Rep. Rocky Adkins (D)
Majority Floor Leader
Phone: (502) 564-5565
Email: Email Form

Rep. Tommy Thompson (D)
Majority Whip
Phone: (502) 564-7756
Email: Tommy.Thompson@lrc.ky.gov

Rep. Robert Damron (D)
Majority Caucus Chairman
Phone: (502) 564-2217
Email: Robert.Damron@lrc.ky.gov

***CONGRESSMAN BEN CHANDLER***

Ben’s got a way of listening when he realizes votes are on the line… and when you contact his office, your vote is literally on the line. So call Ben Chandler. Tell him to flex his political muscle. Politics is all about relationships and if Chandler’s looking to buttress his position in his election next fall, he’d do well to make his constituency happy.

If Chandler doesn’t help Kathy Stein, you can bet he’ll lose more than 648 votes. Tell Ben to act now like your vote depends on it. (And depending on which Congressional redistricted map the Assembly passes, Ben might really need Kathy Stein voters… so he’d better help.)

Rep. Chandler’s Lexington Office:  (859) 219-1366

Rep. Chandler’s Washington Office:  (202) 225-4706

Rep. Chandler’s E-Mail Form: Click Here.

**THE FIGHTING 13th’s OTHER REPRESENTATIVES**

On to the House. Here are the State Representatives you’ll want to contact. Some are Dems, some are Republicans, each of them should understand the issue and where you stand:

• 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. Bill Farmer – Email Form – (502) 564-8100 Ext. 628
• Rep. Kelly Flood – Kelly.Flood@lrc.ky.gov – (502) 564-8100 Ext. 675
• Rep. Stan Lee – Email Form – (502) 564-8100 Ext. 698
• Rep. Ruth Ann Palumbo – RuthAnn.Palumbo@lrc.ky.gov – (502) 564-8100 Ext. 600
• Rep. Ryan Quarles – Email Form – (502) 564-8100 Ext. 671
• Rep. Carl Rollins – Carl.Rollins@lrc.ky.gov – (502) 564-8100 Ext. 736
• Rep. Susan Westrom – Susan.Westrom@lrc.ky.gov – (502) 564-8100 Ext. 740

***ALICE FORGY KERR***

Senator Alice Forgy Kerr is a Republican. She represents Lexington/Fayette County in the neighboring 12th District (basically, the southern half). Her district is left untouched in this creative reshuffling. She sits on the Government Committee… and here’s the real kicker: she voted FOR the Bill in Committee but that when it came to the Senate Floor she tried to hide her complicity by not voting at all.

(Sorry, Alice, that still counts. You didn’t stand up for the people of Fayette County.)

Many citizens of Lexington/Fayette may not be lucky enough to have Kathy Stein as their representative. Some of you may have the bad luck of having Ms. Forgy Kerr. Regardless of which type of luck you have, you are either represented by Forgy Kerr or you know lots of people who must unfortunately count themselves as Forgy Kerr’s constituents.

Contact her and let her know how disappointed you are in her vote:

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

Then… tell all your friends and neighbors, regardless of their party, how Alice Forgy Kerr fought to steal your vote. She needs their votes just like we could’ve used hers.

Fayette County’s other fractional Senators are Democrat Julian Carroll and the Republican Tom Buford (who voted to relieve us of our voice in Frankfort).

Sen. Julian Carroll:

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

Sen. Tom Buford:

• Email: tom.buford@lrc.ky.gov
• Email Form: Click here.
• Phone: (502) 564-8100 Ext. 610

***DAMON THAYER & DAVID WILLIAMS***

They’re the ones who’ve told Fayette County to go to hell, so now it’s your turn to tell them to go piss up a flagpole.

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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Okay. Make your phone calls. Spread the word. Share it with friends. Get the word out. Send your emails.

As a bit of background (remember, I said we were doing this backwards), CN|2 described it thusly:

The map placed together Democratic Sens. Dorsey Ridley of Henderson who represents the 4th Senate District and Jerry Rhoads of Madisonville who represents the 6th District. That new 6th District includes Henderson, Hopkins, Webster and McLean counties.

That allowed senators to re-number Stein’s 13th District to be the 4th. And the 13th District became a northeastern Kentucky district of Harrison, Robertson, Mason, Lewis, Nicholas, Fleming, Bath and Montgomery counties.

Because odd-numbered districts are up for re-election this year, Stein would have to move to that district to run for another term. She said Wednesday she didn’t plan to move.

And if you’d like to meet your potential new Senate representative, Mr. Dorsey Ridley of Henderson, Kentucky, the Herald-Leader caught up with him:

Ridley said he understands the political process, and will try to make the best of the situation.

“I’m ready to serve the people. I’ve always believed the primary purpose of a legislator is to serve the constituents,” he said. “But I’ll continue to live in Henderson.”

As an olive branch from his potential new subjects, I’ve put together this fancy map so Ridley won’t get lost on his new three and a half hour commute to the district he would represent:
View Larger Map

If you are curious about what has changed, here’s the new map as approved by the Senate on Wednesday:

You can click on it to make it bigger. You’ll see that Fayette is now the 4th, Henderson’s now in the 6th, and Stein’s 13th District (or, I should say OUR 13th District) is located in the top right corner in the pleasant unhealthy looking poop color.

Here’s the map as it appeared on Tuesday:

In which you’ll see (again, click it for a fullsize) OUR 13th District in the center of Fayette County, Henderson safely in the 4th, and the verdant green (as opposed to the unhealthy poop color) of the 18th in the upper right.

Or, put another way:

One of these is total shit.