News and Music Discovery
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Unions, Lawyers Give Big to Super PAC Helping Democrats Defend State House

A Super PAC that is helping defend Democrats is Kentucky state House races has raised nearly a quarter of a million dollars.

Kentucky Family Values is helping Democrats beat back the GOP?'s attempt to take control of the House. And one month before the election, the group reported raising $236,000. It still has $190,000 cash on hand.

The group is polling and running radio ads against Republican candidates in competitive districts. The radio ads started airing after the latest report was due, but it does show $46,000 was paid for polling and research from Public Policy Polling.

Financing the Super PAC are the usual Democratic funders: teacher unions, lawyers and trade unions.  A list of donations to Kentucky Family Values are below:

Greg Scholl -- $1,000
AFSCME -- $20,000
National Education Association -- $50,000
Building/Construction Trades Union -- $15,000
Kentucky Justice Association -- $50,000
Staguro Distributing -- $2,000
River City Distributing -- $2,000
Kentucky Downs -- $3,500
Wine and Spirit Wholesalers of Kentucky -- $1,000
Codell Construction -- $2,000
Laborers Union -- $2,000
Kentucky Education Association -- $50,000
Asbestos Workers PAC -- $500
Plumbers/Pipefitters Union -- $3,500
Boilermakers Union -- $2,500

But as the list shows, the group is also receiving money from Kentucky Downs, the first horse racing track in Kentucky to have Instant Racing, a slots-like game. And also from various beer and liquor companies, which will be lobbying lawmakers in light of a judge's ruling throwing out current liquor sales laws.

And while two GOP-leaning PACs have announced they may get involved, their spending hasn'?t been as large.

Kenny Colston is the Frankfort Bureau Chief for Kentucky Public Radio (a collaborative effort of public radio stations in Kentucky). Colston has covered Kentucky's Capitol and state government since 2010. He is a Louisville native, and a graduate of the University of Kentucky. When he's not tracking down stories about Kentucky politics, you can often find him watching college sports, particularly football.
Related Content