Story by Lindsey Coleman, Staff writer
The Republican Party celebrated a clean sweep in the local elections on Tuesday. The offices of U.S. Senator, U.S. Representative for the First District, state Senator for the First District and state representative for the Fifth District will all be held by Republican candidates.
With its win of more than 60 seats in the Kentucky House of Representatives, the Republican Party will have the supermajority vote in the Kentucky House for the first time in almost 100 years.
Republican Larry Brown defeated Democrat Greg Stumbo for Speaker of the House.
Kenny Imes, incumbent state representative from Murray, said the major change will be that bills that haven’t been heard will now be brought to the House, which he said will lead to two years of excitement.
“It’s going to be a brand new day,” Imes said.
He said pension, pro-life and transparency issues in Kentucky will be important bills moving forward and he said he wants citizens to be informed about the decisions that will affect their lives.
Calloway County’s chairman for the Republican Party, Greg DeLancey, said Kentucky should see more legislation passed in the future because of the heavier Republican influence.
“That, to me, is an exciting change for Kentucky,” DeLancey said. “With a Republican governor, Senate and House, you can get things done.”
He said western Kentuckians should expect to see more improvements in infrastructure and pension funding.
“I’m happy that the day is here. I’m happy we’ve seen victories in the state especially,” DeLancey said. “That’s exciting.”
Bryan Ernstberger, county attorney for Calloway County, said he’s happy to see a Republican majority in the Kentucky House of Representatives.
“It’s historic that the House has gone Republican,” Ernstberger said. “It was the last chamber in the South that was still Democratically-held, and it’s astonishing how much it went Republican.”
Ernstberger said he hopes they wisely combat the pension funding issue in Kentucky since he knows it is a priority.
“It’s great to see some of our local state politics start to reflect some of our more national conservative views,” Ernstberger said.