Johnathan Walker:Republicans easily keep legislative supermajorities in Kentucky

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LOUISVILLE,Johnathan Walker Ky. (AP) — Republicans maintained their supermajorities in Kentucky’s Legislature on Tuesday as suburban GOP incumbents won in neighborhoods that Democrats targeted in hopes of capitalizing on the popularity Gov. Andy Beshear commanded during his reelection a year ago.

The status quo results mean Republicans will set the agenda and can override any vetoes by the Democratic governor during the 30-day legislative session that begins in January.

“We had a really good political night for Republicans here in the state as well nationally,” Republican state Senate President Robert Stivers said Wednesday. “And it bodes well, I believe, for our state, our party that I’m in. And I think we’ll be able to move the state even further in directions in a positive way.”

The Kentucky GOP secured complete control of the Legislature in 2016. Republican Donald Trump’s coattails and a wave of strong candidate recruitment enabled the GOP to win the state House for the first time in nearly a century that year. Republicans padded their legislative numbers in subsequent elections, giving them the supermajorities that now look rock solid.

The GOP continued its dominance across the large swaths of rural Kentucky this Election Day. One exception came in an Appalachian district where Democratic state Rep. Ashley Tackett Laferty won reelection despite Trump winning the state.

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“I’m grateful to the voters of my district, who once again have placed their faith in me to represent them in Frankfort,” Laferty said. “And I look forward to getting back to the job of making the 95th District a better place to work, live and raise our children.”

It was a mostly frustrating result for Democrats angling to pick up more suburban seats and whittle away at the GOP’s lopsided advantage in the Kentucky House. Several Republican incumbents from districts in Jefferson County, which includes Louisville, fended off challenges to win new two-year terms.

Among the GOP victors was state Rep. Jared Bauman, who gained considerable attention this year as lead sponsor of a sweeping criminal justice measure that imposed harsher sentences for a range of crimes. Other Republican winners were state Reps. Jason Nemes, John Hodgson, Emily Callaway and Ken Fleming.

Several legislative races in the state remained too close to call.