Sunday’s column:
This and that as the morphing of the state Senate continues:
Frankfort’s worst-kept secret in recent memory produced its expected conclusion when Gov. Steve Beshear picked former Senate Majority Leader Dan Kelly to fill a vacant seat on the 11th Judicial Circuit bench. Funny, isn’t it, how the months of hallway chatter preceding the nominating process proved to be so eerily accurate on this one?
Oh, well, Beshear at least gave the appearance of considering the other two nominees. He let a full weekend go by before naming Kelly to the post, thereby creating another opportunity for Democrats to capture a seat formerly held by a Republican in a special election.
But the Kelly gambit has more potential for exploding in Beshear’s face than the appointment of Republican former Sen. Charlie Borders to the Public Service Commission, which set up the special election won by Democrat Robin Webb.
Although a coveted job with big-time pay, a PSC commissioner essentially serves at the whim of the governor. When Borders’ initial term is up, whoever occupies the governor’s office will decide whether he gets reappointed or gets shown the door.
But appointment to a judicial post invests the lucky recipient with the perks of incumbency when the next election rolls around.
By giving a Republican the opportunity to run a “Keep Judge Kelly on the Bench” campaign in the next election, Beshear upset some members of his own party who thought a Democratic governor should bestow such favors on fellow Democrats. Should they decide to sit out the upcoming 14th District special election, picking up Kelly’s seat would become more problematic even though Democrats’ advantage in voter registration is more than 2 to 1.
All other things being equal, though, the 14th District ought to be receptive to the current Democratic mantra about giving Kentucky’s signature racing industry the expanded gambling options it needs to compete with racino-enhanced purses and breeding incentives that are luring Kentucky trainers and owners to other states.
The 14th isn’t in the heart of horse country, but elements of the racing industry exist there. And it has a significant population of Catholics, who are more accepting of gambling than some other faiths.
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I grew up in the 14th District, in Washington County. I came of age, slightly ahead of legal age, at a couple of Lebanon nightclubs way back in the day.
But I know the two candidates in the special election — Republican Rep. Jimmy Higdon and Democratic former Rep. Jodie Haydon — only through their legislative careers. Both are good guys. And left to their own devices, I would expect them to run a clean campaign.
Unfortunately, their respective parties and assorted other groups rarely let two decent candidates settle the issue by themselves these days.
* * *
Then, there were none.
Entering last week, 11 of the 12 states Kentucky’s racing industry competes with offered some form of expanded gambling. On Tuesday, Ohio voters made it 12 for 12.
Not immediately, of course. A Cincinnati casino isn’t expected to open until 2012. But when it does, the one remaining gap in the line of casinos along Kentucky’s northern border will be closed.
And Kentucky tracks, which recently requested 67 fewer racing dates in 2010 than they initially requested for 2009, will find themselves at an even greater competitive disadvantage.
All the more reason for Kentucky lawmakers to take the legislative route to approving racetrack slots rather than a constitutional amendment process that could delay approval by up to two years.
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“Holiday tree” is too PC by far for the kurmudgeon in me.
But having gone there, Gov. Beshear should have stayed there. Reversing course to “Christmas tree” comes across as a flip-flop.

Larry Dale Keeling, a columnist for the Lexington Herald-Leader, has spent most of his 35-plus years in journalism reporting on or writing editorials and columns about Kentucky’s politics and political issues. He now brings his experience and expertise on those topics to the KyKurmudgeon blog.