XPost: alt.fan.states.kentucky, sac.politics, alt.politics.republicans
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https://apnews.com/article/party-switch-kentucky-legislature- b7619252e623587e9f1378cd771b0494

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — A longtime state lawmaker announced Friday that she
is switching parties, joining Republican supermajorities in the latest
setback for Democrats trying to rebuild support across rural Kentucky.

State Sen. Robin Webb, who represents a four-county swath of northeastern Kentucky, revealed she will join the ranks of GOP lawmakers who control
the flow of legislation in the state. Webb was one of the last rural
Democrats in Kentucky’s legislature, and her defection leaves her ex-party
more tethered to urban and suburban districts in a state with large
stretches of rural territory controlled by the GOP.

Webb said in a news release that she felt increasingly disconnected from
the Democratic Party as it continued to “lurch to the left.”

“It has become untenable and counterproductive to the best interests of my constituents for me to remain a Democrat,” Webb said. “I will continue to
be a fearless advocate for rural Kentucky and for the residents of eastern Kentucky who have been so good to me and my family.”

Kentucky Democratic Party Chair Colmon Elridge said in a release that Webb chose to align with a political party attempting to fund tax breaks for
the wealthy “off the backs of vulnerable” people.

It was a barbed reference to the multitrillion-dollar tax breaks package
passed recently by U.S. House Republicans. To make up for some of the lost
tax revenue, Republicans focused on changes to Medicaid and the food
stamps program. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates 8.6 million fewer people would have health care coverage and 3 million less
people a month would have SNAP food stamps benefits with the proposed
changes.


“If those are her priorities, then we agree: she isn’t a Democrat,”
Elridge said.

Webb stressed that her core values have not changed.

“The only difference today is the letter next to my name,” she said.

Webb has compiled a personal and professional resume deeply ingrained in Kentucky culture. She’s a hunter, a horse enthusiast and a former coal
miner who changed career paths to become an attorney.

Webb first joined the Kentucky House in 1999, when Democrats controlled
the chamber. She spent a decade as a state representative before joining
the GOP-led Senate in 2009. Republicans seized total control of the
legislature in the 2016 election, when they rode Donald Trump’s coattails
to win the Kentucky House. Republicans padded their legislative numbers in subsequent elections, giving them their overwhelming majorities.

Republicans attained that dominance by winning in rural districts
previously held by Democrats, but Webb’s district had remained a blue dot
on the map until Friday.

Her party switch leaves Democrats mostly devoid of a rural presence in the legislature. One exception is Democratic state Rep. Ashley Tackett
Laferty, who represents an Appalachian district.

The state’s two-term governor, Democrat Andy Beshear, won a number of
rural counties and shrank GOP margins in others in his 2023 reelection.
His popularity was built on the state’s robust economic growth during his tenure and his handling of disasters, from tornadoes and floods to the
COVID-19 pandemic.

Kentucky Democrats are trying to spark a rural comeback with a grassroots strategy, evidenced by the state party’s ongoing “listening tour” with
stops in culturally conservative towns across the state.

State Republican Party Chairman Robert Benvenuti said Webb’s party switch reflects a broader political trend. In 2022, the GOP overtook the
Democratic Party in statewide voter registration.

“Like countless other Kentuckians, she has recognized that the policies
and objectives of today’s Democratic Party are simply not what they once
were, and do not align with the vast majority of Kentuckians,” he said.

Lawmakers will begin their 2026 session in early January, but Beshear has
said he will likely call lawmakers back for a special session sometime
this year to take up storm-relief funding. Parts of southeastern Kentucky
were devastated by deadly tornadoes earlier in May, while other parts of
the Bluegrass State were inundated by flooding in April.


--
November 5, 2024 - Congratulations President Donald Trump. We look
forward to America being great again.

We live in a time where intelligent people are being silenced so that
stupid people won't be offended.

Every day is an IQ test. Some pass, some, not so much.

Thank you for cleaning up the disasters of the 2008-2017, 2020-2024 Obama
/ Biden / Harris fiascos, President Trump.

Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the
The World According To Garp. Obama sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood
queer liberal democrat donors.

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