Election Day is tomorrow, and Kentuckians who haven’t voted early already will go to the polls and make their selections in many important state and local races and ballot referendums. Voters will have the chance to weigh in on state constitutional amendments, state legislative races, nonpartisan judicial elections and more.
Kentucky Public Radio Reporters Sylvia Goodman and Joe Sonka discuss some of the big items to look for on the ballot and when the results come in that night.
Sylvia: Hi Joe.
Joe: Hi Sylvia.
Sylvia: Let's start with the only statewide measures that will be on every voter's ballot, and those are the proposed amendments to Kentucky's constitution that people will decide whether to approve or reject.
First, we have the big one: Amendment 2. There's been a lot of attention and spending on it in the last few months. So this would amend Kentucky's Constitution to allow public money to go towards private or charter school education. What are the sides that we're looking at here? Who are the players?
Joe: The proponents for this are what's known as the “school choice” movement, and they feel that this constitutional amendment would allow parents to have more choice about where they send their kids to school, and that it would also improve student outcomes.
Now the opponents of this say that this is actually going to siphon money away from public schools that need that state funding and will go to private schools, either through vouchers or some other method to fund private schools. The proponents are made up of a lot of the same people who have advocated for school choice for many years. Also, they've been largely funded by Jeff Yass, who is a Pennsylvania billionaire, who is a major GOP donor.
On the other side, you have teacher unions who are funding the TV ads and other ads that are against it, saying this will hurt public schools. You also have Democratic Governor Andy Beshear, who's really stepped forward and made a lot of effort to oppose the measure.
There's been a lot of spending on both sides. They've already spent over $14 million, which is really a record breaking amount for this kind of constitutional amendment. It's already twice what was spent in 2022 over the constitutional amendment involving abortion rights.
Sylvia: And then there's Amendment 1. Essentially, what that does is it adds to the constitution that noncitizens can't vote in our elections. I think it's really important to say right off the bat here that noncitizens already are not allowed to vote in any Kentucky election or in our federal elections.
Joe: This is a really long question that voters will see on the ballot. It also includes really outdated language about barring people with intellectual disabilities from voting. But the only part that matters and will actually change is that part about non citizens voting.
Sylvia: The other thing that you will see on your ballot is state legislative races for the Kentucky General Assembly. Currently, the GOP has a supermajority, and it dominates the legislature — both chambers — and it probably still will after this election. It would take a lot to change that. So Joe, what are some of the races and trends that we're looking at this year?
Joe: The real question here is whether Democrats have hit rock bottom in Frankfort when it comes to their representation. Republicans have an 80-20 advantage in the house and a similar margin in the Senate, and Democrats have largely been relegated to just Louisville and Lexington. And this election, they're trying to hold on to what little they have elsewhere.
They're trying to hold on to their very last House seat in eastern Kentucky, where Rep. Ashley Tackett Lafferty is trying to hold on to her seat. They're also trying to hold on to their last seat in northern Kentucky, where Rep. Rachel Roberts is not running for reelection this year. Democrat Matthew Lehman is trying to hold on to that last seat there.
Sylvia: We also have some interesting things happening in the suburbs of Louisville and Lexington. In Lexington, Democrats are trying to hold onto their seat on the outskirts of the suburbs. That's Cherlynn Stevenson, who is actually the only member of the House Democratic leadership running for reelection, and it's going to be a close race against Vanessa Grossl. Democrats are also hopeful that they could gain some ground and flip GOP seats, mostly here in Louisville.
Joe: This is one area of optimism where they think they can kind of stop the bleeding in Frankfort. And there are three districts in Louisville where Beshear won by large margins just last fall, and some of those Democrats have a large voter registration advantage.
There are two races in particular where Democrats are using the state's near total abortion ban as an issue against the Republican opponents. This is a district in east Louisville against Rep. Ken Fleming, and also, kind of central Louisville against Rep. Susan Witten. Democrats have spent a lot of resources trying to help them in those races, as has Governor Andy Beshear and the Democratic Party.
Sylvia: So we also have another big race that's going to be on a lot of ballots in central Kentucky; that is for the Kentucky Supreme Court. It's become a pretty partisan race. Joe, tell us about that.
Joe: Judicial races in Kentucky are supposed to be nonpartisan, but the trend of late has been very partisan endorsements and messaging and also some big spending PACs, and that's what we're seeing again in this Supreme Court race between Court of Appeals Judge Pamela Goodwine and Frankfort attorney Erin Izzo.
Governor Andy Beshear came out with a strong endorsement of Goodwine, and Goodwine also has a huge spending advantage. There are PACs that have spent nearly a million dollars trying to help her with ads. Izzo has not had a lot of spending or outside support, but she is touting endorsements from a handful of local Republican parties. One independent watchdog group has wagged their fingers at both candidates for accepting these endorsements, saying that this is going to undermine public confidence in the judiciary.
Sylvia: Another thing that's going to be on the ballot for a lot of voters — not everyone, but a lot of them — is voting on medical cannabis, specifically medical cannabis businesses. People in those counties or cities will be able to decide if they want cannabis businesses located there. However, people in those counties or cities will still be able to use their medical cannabis cards and still be able to purchase outside of that county. People will see that on their ballot this year.
Joe: This is more than 100 cities and counties where voters are going to be voting on that. There could be some voters in many cities where they are going to have this question on the ballot twice; they're going to vote on whether the city will allow these businesses to operate, and also whether the county outside of their city will also be able to operate. So some might have to answer that question twice.
Sylvia: Already, election officials are saying that they're seeing pretty high turnout, and Election Day is tomorrow. Polls open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. local time, and you are entitled to vote as long as you are in line. You can find your polling location at elect.ky.gov and also make sure to check out our voter guide.
Our Kentucky Public Radio voter guide has all the information you need about people and issues on your ballot. This has been Kentucky Public Radio's Capital Reporter Sylvia Goodman and Joe Sonka. Thanks, Joe.
Joe: Thanks, Sylvia.
Find more information on candidates and how to vote with Louisville Public Media's interactive voter guide.
State government and politics reporting is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
