Governor’s race could hamstring Dems looking to unseat McConnell

Kentucky Democratic officials say most Democrats who have expressed an interest in running against Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) are promising to keep a low profile until after the governor’s election this November.

{mosads}Defeating Gov. Ernie Fletcher (R) is the top priority for state Democrats this year, but whether or not they succeed, the party will have to turn immediately to priority No. 2 — beating McConnell.

Because potential candidates are saying they will wait until after this year’s race to begin raising money seriously against an incumbent who will have an enormous war chest, Bluegrass Democrats could be hamstrung by delayed fundraising efforts.

Plus, whatever funds candidates bring in during that short period could be lessened almost immediately by funding a spring primary.

State Attorney General Greg Stumbo launched an exploratory committee Monday to gauge interest in a run against McConnell, and said he wants to raise $100,000 in the next week to enable that effort.

Stumbo told The Hill on Tuesday he aims to avoid dipping into the same fundraising pools as the Democratic nominee for governor, Steve Beshear.

“We’re going to take every precaution to make sure we don’t get in his way,” Stumbo said, adding that he has said as much to Beshear.

To achieve that end, Stumbo said he would look only to donors who have maxed out to Beshear, and those within his own circle of friends and family.

Stumbo, who gained fame during Fletcher’s first term as the attorney general who was granted indictments of administration officials over a hiring scandal, most recently mounted his own bid for governor before coming in second in the primary with Louisville businessman Bruce Lunsford at the top of the ticket.

Lunsford and Stumbo spent about $5 million in their effort — the same amount Stumbo said it will take to be competitive against McConnell next year — and came into second to Beshear.

Stumbo acknowledged that waiting until after November to start serious fundraising will be “problematic” for Democratic candidates.

That said, Stumbo said he doesn’t want McConnell’s eventual challenger to have to waste money on a primary, even if he’s not the candidate.

Louisville businessman Charlie Owen also has been a candidate, and one official with the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) noted that both Owen and Lunsford could just about “equal” McConnell’s coffers “in one day [by] writing a check.”
Stumbo said talks with Lunsford have led him to believe the millionaire is not interested in running.

Stumbo said he did not yet want to waste the DSCC’s time by requesting a meeting, but state party Chairman Jonathan Miller said Tuesday he has spoken with committee officials recently.

Miller said DSCC chairman Sen. Charles Schumer (N.Y.) “was very direct that he wanted to win this race.”

The DSCC does not comment on how much they will spend on a race, particularly this far in advance, but the committee has gone on the air already attacking McConnell on a number of issues, most notably Iraq. The DSCC has gone in the air in only three other states.

A DSCC spokesman declined to discuss primary scenarios in which Schumer might get involved and side with one challenger over another. The senator did get involved in races last year, including those of Sens. Jim Webb (Va.) and Jon Tester (Mont.).

Miller agreed that the state party wants to avoid a primary, but he said he is not looking past the governor’s race.
“If we lose the governor’s race, then it’s going to be tough to beat McConnell,” Miller said.

McConnell already has raised more this year than any incumbent Kentucky senator ever has in an entire cycle. The senator has raised about $7.6 million this year, and he has about $5.7 million cash on hand.

McConnell’s chief of staff, Billy Piper, said the senator began to put a campaign infrastructure into place at the beginning of the year, and the senator will take the race seriously.

Piper dismissed the current political environment facing Republicans, as evidenced by last year’s mass defeats. He went on to say that some Democrats running for president could extinguish a state Democrat’s chances without any help from them.

“Next year’s cycle is going to be defined by the presidential race,” Piper said. “I don’t think Kentucky is a state that’s going to take well to [New York Sen.] Hillary Clinton at the top of the ticket.”