Nov. 9, 2011 — FRANKFORT It wasn’t quite the complete sweep Democrats were hoping for — but it came close as James “Jamie” Comer was the only Republican to win statewide election Tuesday night. Comer won the race for agriculture commissioner over Democrat Robert “Bob” Farmer even as incumbent Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear won in a landslide at the top of the ticket.

 

Otherwise it was a clean sweep for Democrats, led by Beshear who beat Republican David Williams 56 percent to 35 percent. Independent Gatewood Galbraith got 9 percent.

 

Alison Lundergan Grimes, Democratic candidate for secretary of state, led the ticket, pulling in 490,766 votes and 60 percent of the vote over Republican Bill Johnson. Grimes was joined on stage at the Democratic celebration by her two grandmothers who starred in a commercial which many said was the best of the campaign. Grimes’ campaign was well-organized, with contacts in every county, many of them through her father, Jerry Lundergan, a former legislator and chairman of the Kentucky Democratic Party.

 

Democratic incumbent Attorney General Jack Conway won a second term and won in easier fashion than some had predicted when the race against Republican Hopkins County Attorney Todd P’Pool first shaped up. Conway beat P’Pool 55 percent to 45 percent as P’Pool tried to federalize the race by tying Conway to President Barack Obama who remains very unpopular in Kentucky.

 

P’Pool enjoyed fundraising help from Republican U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell and McConnell’s former statewide director, Larry Cox, chaired P’Pool’s campaign. But it wasn’t enough to overcome the Democratic landslide at the top of the ticket, Conway’s greater success at fundraising and probably Conway’s name recognition after an unsuccessful race for the U.S. Senate last year.

 

“It’s just asking a whole lot of voters to go down the ballot and pull these people out with the drag at the top of the ticket,” said Ted Jackson, a Louisville political consultant.

 

But that’s what happened in Comer’s case. He was supported by most of the agriculture community who saw his opponent as lacking any sort of farm background. Farmer also was captured on video in a Comer commercial from a speaking engagement years ago making jokes about people from eastern Kentucky, relying on unflattering stereotypes of the region. Comer was also supported by the Kentucky Education Association — the only Republican to get their endorsement and perhaps more importantly their get-out-the-vote efforts. Some tea party groups also supported Comer.

 

In the auditor’s race, former Beshear Chief of Staff Adam Edelen won 55 percent to 45 percent over Republican John Kemper, who had support of tea party groups but was badly outmatched in fundraising by Edelen. Edelen attacked Kemper over his personal bankruptcy as Kemper, a real estate developer, got caught up in the falling housing market. Kemper attacked Edelen for his political connections, including now being a watchdog over the administration of his former boss, Beshear.

 

First-time statewide candidate K.C. Crosbie made somewhat of surprise showing against incumbent Democratic Treasurer Todd Hollenbach but, in the end, Hollenbach’s name recognition (his father was once county judge in Jefferson County and shares the same name) and Beshear’s coattails proved too much as he escaped with a 49-46 win. Still, some said Crosbie, a member of the non-partisan Lexington-Fayette County Urban Council who was endorsed by Lexington Mayor and Democrat Jim Gray, ran well enough in a first race to have built a foundation for a future race.

 

Barren County Sheriff Chris Eaton, a Democrat, said Crosbie was an impressive candidate, intelligent and “a rising star” along with Grimes and Comer. All, he thinks, have bright futures in Kentucky politics.

 

Turnout was higher than some expected — about 28 percent, just what Secretary of State Elaine Walker predicted and higher than many county officials and political observers thought in the days leading up to Tuesday’s election.