Democrats stand to lose more than office in Kentucky
By JOHN CHEVES
Lexington (Kent.) Herald-Leader
FRANKFORT - The once-mighty Kentucky Democratic Party could be hurting for cash if its 32-year lock on the governor's office is broken next Tuesday.
As a fund-raising machine, responsible for getting Democrats to the polls and into elected office, the party benefits greatly from having its leader control the state's executive branch, with 37,000 jobs and contracts worth billions of dollars.
Employees of the state and of state contractors have pumped nearly $2 million since 1997 into the party's federally regulated account, according to an analysis of Federal Election Commission data. That sum -- separate from what individual candidates raise -- accounts for 20 percent of the party's income from individual donors.
But if Republican Ernie Fletcher beats Democrat Ben Chandler, as recent polls suggest is likely, that could end.
Put a Republican in charge, and the Democratic Party looks a lot less useful to donors with a financial stake in state government, several political experts said.
"A lot of political giving comes down to 'What can you do for me?' And there's not much you can do for me if the other party holds the state capital," said Saundra Ardrey, a Western Kentucky University political scientist.
Already, Republicans control the state Senate and dominate Kentucky's delegation to Congress. A Fletcher win would make the GOP undisputed boss of the spoils system, Ardrey said.
"You hire the people who support you. On contracts, you give a heads-up to the people who support you," she said. "This is how politics works."
For Democratic strategists, who even now are preparing for a tough U.S. Senate race next year, that could be a costly problem.
Money: a delicate subject
Democratic Party officials do an awkward dance when asked about money they take from employees of the state and state contractors.
They insist there is no conclusive evidence that scandal-tainted, departing Gov. Paul Patton did special favors for such donors.
But at the same time, they portray Chandler as a fresh start, a reformer who opposes cronyism. When Chandler succeeded Patton as party leader after the May primary, he named his own team to replace Patton loyalists at party headquarters in Frankfort.
"We literally put a sign out front that said 'Under New Management,'" said Jeff Derouen, the new communications director.
"I'm not going to defend what happened here for eight years," Derouen said. "I can tell you these activities simply haven't occurred since we've been here."
Blurry relationships
Several former party leaders refused to comment on how they raised funds, including Nicki Patton, the governor's daughter, who was party chairwoman from 1999 to 2002.
However, some who wrote checks are willing to talk, such as employees of state contractors, who have paid at least $1.3 million into the party's account since 1997. They acknowledge that the Democratic Party asks for money but said that is unconnected to contracts from the Democratic administration.
"They've eliminated any influence, any political influence, in the (contract) selection process," said Richard Sutherland of Frankfort, regional manager for American Consulting Engineers Inc. "I think it's honest and above-board. I won't say it's always that way, but it is now."
Ten employees of American Consulting Engineers have paid $125,000 combined into the party's account since 1997, because they agree with the party's politics, Sutherland said. He said there is no relationship between the donations and state contracts the company receives for engineering work, which totaled $7.7 million last year.
Executives like Sutherland can give large sums to the party -- he has given $10,000 in the last two years -- because the state Democratic and Republican parties use federally regulated accounts, which allow up to $10,000 each year in donations. If they were regulated under Kentucky election law, party donations would be limited to $2,500 a year.
Rubbing elbows
State employees have paid at least $525,182 to the party since 1997, according to Federal Election Commission data.
The biggest donors are political appointees, who are hired and fired by the governor, unlike protected merit employees, who cannot be fired without cause. These appointees include not only high-profile cabinet secretaries, but also dozens of mid-level administrators and principal assistants scattered throughout the bureaucracy.
Some appointees said they were encouraged to join "social clubs," such as the Capitol Democrats. That club, which no longer appears to be active, forwarded members' annual dues of at least $250 to the party as donations, former members said.
Employees said they didn't have to join the Capitol Democrats to keep their jobs. But they are aware that their careers in Frankfort are tied to the Democratic Party.
"We serve at the pleasure of the governor, and so we have our jobs because of that," said Clayton Elizabeth Bradley, a division director in the Public Protection Cabinet who has paid $14,487 into the party's account in the last six years.
Capitol Democrats Chairwoman Stephanie Bell spent five years as a Patton appointee at the Public Service Commission. Bell left state government last year for Ratcliff & Shoop, a lobbying firm owned by Frank Shoop, a former Democratic Party finance chairman.
On its Web site, Ratcliff & Shoop credits Bell for raising the Capitol Democrats' membership from 150 to more than 400.
Bell did not return calls seeking comment. Neither did Shoop, who raised campaign money for Patton and was appointed by Patton and other Democratic governors to the Kentucky Racing Commission and the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees.
Loyalties can shift
Kentucky still has plenty of ideological Democrats who are personally loyal to the party in general and who will remain registered Democrats regardless of who is elected governor Nov. 4, political experts said.
But the party machine is supported by only a few thousand donors, according to federal data.
Those ranks are heavy with what critics call "special interests" -- people who get a paycheck from the state government, state contractors or businesses in state-regulated industries, such as agriculture, medicine, finance, coal and utilities.
The Republican Party already is dipping into traditionally Democratic donor pools, said Kentucky State Historian James Klotter.
"For these donors, this has nothing to do with ideology. These are people who contribute to a party to get something from that party," said Klotter, who teaches at Georgetown College.
"If the Republicans do come into power this year, they will pick up the support of many people who backed the Democrats for years."
Republicans are ready.
"I can't say that when Ernie wins, there won't be some new people who start to contribute to us. But we certainly won't make it mandatory," said Ellen Williams, chairwoman of the Kentucky Republican Party.
But at Democratic Party headquarters, nobody admits to worrying yet.
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