Yarmuth: Democrats might not have viable U.S. Senate candidate to challenge Paul

by The Associated Press –

In a story Jan. 4 about U.S. Sen. Rand Paul’s run for re-election, The Associated Press reported erroneously that no one has filed to run against Paul. Two Democrats and one Republican have filed for Paul’s seat, though none is well-known.

A corrected version of the story is below:

Yarmuth: Democrats might not have viable US Senate candidate

Yarmuth worried Kentucky Democrats might not have viable US Senate candidate to challenge Paul

 

by Adam Beam, Associated Press –

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Rand Paul may be running for two offices, but only one is generating any competition.

The Republican presidential candidate so far has not drawn a well-known challenger for his other race, re-election to his U.S. Senate seat. With the filing deadline set for Jan. 26, Kentucky’s only Democratic federal officeholder worried publicly on Monday the struggling party might not be able to field a viable candidate.

“I am concerned we might not have a credible candidate,” U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth of Louisville told reporters while filing for re-election to his U.S. House seat on Monday. “So far the people we have talked to are not champing at the bit to run, but they are thinking about running and it’s getting late.”

Democrats Jeff Kender and Tom Recktenwald have filed for Paul’s seat. Recktenwald ran for Senate in 2014 but received less than 8 percent of the vote. Kender has not filed a fundraising report with the Federal Election Commission. Republican James R. Gould has also filed to challenge Paul in the primary.

Paul is the only major candidate for president who is running for two offices at the same time. Democrats had planned to use that against him in his re-election campaign, telling voters Paul was treating them as a “consolation prize.” State party officials had planned on former state Auditor Adam Edelen to challenge Paul. But the once-rising star said he would not run after losing his re-election bid to a little known Republican state representative in November.

Since then, Paul has been campaigning for president out of state while Democrats have been searching for someone to put pressure on him back home. Yarmuth said he has worked with the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee to recruit candidates, but added none of the people they have talked to are likely to run.

Committee spokeswoman Lauren Passalacqua declined to comment on recruitment efforts, but remarked that “Kentucky voters deserve a Senator and candidate” who puts “their interests ahead of personal ambition.” A spokeswoman for Paul’s re-election campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Yarmuth noted the state Democratic party’s biggest concern is keeping a majority in the state House of Representatives, the last legislative chamber in the House still controlled by Democrats. Since Republican Matt Bevin defeated Democrat Jack Conway for governor in November, two Democratic state representatives have switched parties and another two from conservative districts have resigned to take other jobs.

On Monday, Bevin said special elections for four vacant House seats would take place March 8. If Republicans sweep all four elections, they would share power with House Democrats 50-50 with 16 legislative days left in the session. Such an arrangement could upend budget negotiations as lawmakers try to approve a two-year state spending plan before they adjourn on April 12.

“Our No. 1 concern is keeping the state House. And all hands are on deck,” Yarmuth said.