One of the top Democrats in the Kentucky legislature says he was as surprised as anyone about the outcome of Tuesday's gubernatorial race.
Republican Matt Bevin defeated Democrat Jack Conway by nine percentage points after most polls had Conway leading the race by as many as five points. Warren County representative Jody Richards thinks there were flaws in how voters were sampled in those polls, but, regardless, he says Conway lost simply because he ran "a poor race".
"People expect you to go out and talk with them, have rallies and act like you actually want the job," Richards told WKU Public Radio, "the Democratic candidate did not do that." Conway had been criticized throughout the campaign for spending more time at private fund-raisers with political backers instead of doing the "retail politics" needed to win votes.
Richards also said Conway overdid the negative advertising during his campaign and never articulated his own vision for the future of Kentucky, something he called a "shortcoming" on Conway's part.
As for the new political landscape in Kentucky now with Republicans controlling everything except the House, Richards, a former Speaker of the House, called it "a bump in the road, a righting process".
Asked if he expects Republicans to redouble their efforts and aggressively focus on winning control of the House in next year's general election Richards laughed, "What's new? They've been doing that for years, of course they will."
"What is disturbing," he said, "is Governor-elect Bevin saying in his victory speech how he wants to work with everyone now, north south, east west, black white...and then two minutes later says he wants to 'flip the House'. I find that disconcerting."
Richards said he just hopes Republicans and Democrats can work together during the upcoming legislative session that starts in January and can avoid partisan gridlock.