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    • Kentucky Democrats and GOP seek support in Trump-Harris race
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    Kentucky Democrats and GOP seek support in Trump-Harris race

    Harry Posted on

    Surrounded on either side by homes bearing flags supporting Donald Trump, Amy and Krista Heckmann say they’ve gotten used to pedestrians on Clarks Lane stopping to take photos of the Kamala Harris flag hanging on their porches.

    “We’ve received mail from neighbors we don’t know and have never met saying, ‘Thank you so much for your flag; we’re hoping for the best this November,'” Amy said in a family conversation last week. The patio in Louisville’s Schnitzelburg neighborhood.

    The couple said they had a “cordial” relationship with their two neighbours; When a Courier Journal reporter tried to contact that night, one did not answer and the other homeowner was unavailable. But as the presidential election approaches next week, they are aware of the optics their three homes exhibit.

    “They were very respectful neighbors. We never had any problems,” Amy said. “… But we probably don’t have much in common.”

    The Heckmanns use their home to spread their message. Others are still busy knocking on doors in the final days of the 2024 campaign season; During this period, Trump and Harris are at the top of the ballot, but these campaigns also include Trump and Harris. Races for all 100 State House seatsAs well as openings in the Kentucky Senate, Louisville Metro Council and other bodies.

    Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz, campaigning in Louisville last week, in deep red Kentucky First state to call for Trump on Election Day four years agoYou can expect the Republican former president to hold that title again in 2024. He won the state by more than 25 points in both 2016 and 2020, and University of Kentucky political science professor Stephen Voss expects a similar margin this year.

    Bobbie Coleman, chairwoman of the Hardin County Republican Party, just south of Louisville, said support for Trump is higher than ever during his difficult situation. Republicans in the region We’re starting to embrace early votinghe said four years ago, after most GOP voters had grown wary.

    But Logan Gatti, chairman of the Louisville Democratic Party, said while Kentucky is not a swing state, that doesn’t mean party members are bowing to the GOP. The stakes are very high.

    “Arizona, Georgia and North Carolina were not considered Democratic states for a long time, and now all of a sudden — well, not all of a sudden — but now these are states that are coming into play,” Gatti said Thursday. “We clearly have a significant gap as it relates to the presidential participation of the respective candidates. But you know what? We’re going to try to change the narrative as much as possible.”

    Increase in voter interest

    With 1,659,088 registered Republicans, 1,508,617 registered Democrats and 380,431 voters from other parties, Secretary of State Michael Adams expects a high turnout across Kentucky, although he did not make an official prediction last week. Stating that there may be long queues at voting centers on November 5, he encouraged the following: Early voting between October 31 and November 2.

    Like Adams, Bob Babbage keeps a close eye on voter registration numbers.

    The former Democratic state auditor and secretary of state said recent trends show more people are signing up; The most recent four-year allocation included about 12,500 voters, a number three times higher than the previous four-year period, he said. About 20% of this group of voters did not register as Democrats or Republicans, but of the remaining 10,000 or so, “for every Democrat who registered, you had 15 Republicans registered.”

    “There are generally more R than D. There have been more R than D for about 10 years,” said Babbage, who now works as a lobbyist. Babbage Co-Founder. Although he advises against drawing sweeping conclusions from these numbers, “this is an indication of Republican interest that perhaps no one saw coming.”

    Needless to say, Babbage expected Trump to win the Bluegrass State by the usual margin. And Voss, who spoke to The Courier Journal about an hour before joining last week A forum in Louisville featuring U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnellWhile we may see a “small shift in Trump support,” he said we can expect the former president to carry the state once again.

    But it’s worth watching how his presence on the ballot affects down-ballot Republicans in competitive local races.

    Some candidates in Kentucky have tied their campaigns to Trump.

    The campaign website for TJ Roberts, a candidate for the House of Representatives in Northern Kentucky, praises him as a strong supporter of Trump who “dedicated his life to protecting the constitutional principles that made America great,” a nod to the former president’s famous catchphrase. online.

    Josh Calloway, an officer from Irvington, counting social media How many days have passed since the second assassination attempt on Trump? His district includes parts of Hardin County, where Coleman said a strong majority of yard signs supporting presidential candidates support Trump; here he received 62.5% of the vote in 2016 and 61%.

    However, Voss argued that Trump’s Roe v. He said Wade’s repeal, along with factors such as a crackdown on abortion and other culture war issues that alienated voters, “damaged the Republican brand” in the suburbs and affluent areas surrounding Kentucky’s major cities. . Louisville incumbent Ken Fleming makes no reference to Trump on the campaign website but highlights how he has sponsored bills that support maternal health and access to child care.

    “Voters are tired of political polarization, but it’s the kind of trap they can’t get out of because they’re actually responding to these messages that they find so exhausting,” the professor said. “As long as fearmongering works for campaigns, voters will continue to use it, no matter how much they regret their own sins.”

    It’s hard to escape presidential race rhetoric

    It’s almost impossible to avoid “fear mongering,” as Voss puts it, these days. Both presidential candidates touted the race as one in which democracy was at stake.

    Harris called Trump a “fascist” during a town hall last week. The Atlantic reported that former president Adolph praised Hitler’s generals during his tenure. His campaign said plans to give closing remarks this week, where Trump spoke on the morning of the riot at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

    Trump, meanwhile, referred to Harris as a “fascist” at least five times. The New York Times reported in Septemberand he pushed debunked claims of immigrant gangs, telling attendees at a rally last month that if elected “they won’t have a country anymore.” Take over cities across the USA because of the border policies he and President Joe Biden support.

    Even in a state like Kentucky, where Trump is almost guaranteed to win next week, it’s hard to escape. And pollsters saw this firsthand while knocking on doors around the state.

    Gatti’s position is clear. He said Trump “is objectively a bad person and should not be responsible for the shining beacon of democracy on this stage.” He said he didn’t want to sound negative when encouraging voters to go to the polls, but “we’re talking about democracy being in danger right now, so we kind of have to go that route.”

    “We are the ones focused on investing in infrastructure, public safety and an economic plan that will help all people,” the chairman of the Louisville Democratic Party said. “… And when we talk about Donald Trump, we talk about chaos, instability, tweet politics.”

    Speaking Friday ahead of a busy evening for Calloway and other local candidates, Hardin County GOP chairman Coleman had a different view. She is concerned about political polarization and hopes the country can “find a way to bring us all back together,” but the current administration’s border policy and stance on gender issues have led the country into “dangerous, dangerous positions.”

    “We have a lot to fix in our country without making people feel isolated,” he said. “I wish I had that full answer. I don’t know, but hopefully we’ll see it one day.”

    When asked about the rhetoric of the presidential race in Louisville last week, McConnell turned it around and instead said voters should “vote based on how satisfied they are with the current administration.” Two days later, the Louisiana Republican released a statement alongside U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson urging Harris to “end the dangerous rhetoric.”

    “Labeling a political opponent as a ‘fascist’ risks inviting yet another assassin to steal voters’ choices before Election Day,” they wrote, without warning Trump about using similar language.

    Babbage said it was very tiring. And it may persuade some voters to stay home on Election Day.

    “About three months ago you heard the term ‘double haters’; people who hate both options,” the former secretary of state said. “What I hear most is ‘double doubters’ – doubts about the two main candidates because of some inconsistencies and some incomplete answers, and just frustration, hatred, insults and name-calling that really have nothing to do with each other.” “I focus on what we talk about when we sit down on the weekend and try to make decisions as family or friends.”

    It’s also tiring on Clarks Lane, where the Heckmanns’ flag still flies a week after Election Day.

    Krista Heckmann said that when people see the three houses, she hopes people “see that there is still hope and encourage people to vote and be smart and educated about their vote.”

    Amy added that it was annoying, but “even if your neighbor is different, you can still be a neighbor.”

    Contact Lucas Aulbach at [email protected].

    Harry
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