Kentucky lawmakers react to election results, consider what’s next

While the pension controversy clearly impacted some tight races and led to a couple of losses, Senate President Robert Stivers said the union push was a flop.

LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) - Tuesday became a long election night for some Jefferson County Republicans, as some house and senate races weren’t called until late.

In the end, Kentucky stayed red as the GOP kept its supermajorities, and Republicans said they are very happy with the results.

“We ran the table; all our incumbents were re-elected,” Senate Majority Leader Damon Thayer said of the state’s GOPs.

The majority will hit an all-time high of 28 seats in January.

The House also is holding its supermajority. And that, Thayer said, makes a few things clear.

“Kentucky’s economy is booming; the policies that we passed over the past two years are working,” he said.

While the pension controversy clearly impacted some tight races and led to a couple of losses for Louisville Republicans -- like Phil Moffett and Ken Fleming, who lost their seats to teachers -- Senate President Robert Stivers said the union push was a flop.

“The KEA lost big last night,” Stivers said, adding that he believes overall, teachers backed the effort to repair the pension system.

Kentucky Education Association President Stephanie Walker issued a statement Wednesday:

“Just seven months after the governor vetoed a bill to raise funding for public education and pushed through a pension bill to cut teachers’ pensions, 51 educators stood up and mounted competitive races from every corner of the state. Teacher Tina Bojanowski’s victory in Louisville ousted pro-charter school champion Phil Moffett, while in central Kentucky, math teacher R. Travis Brenda won handily after defeating former State House Majority Leader Jonathan Shell in the May primary.”

Sen. Morgan McGarvey, a Democrat representing Kentucky’s 19th District, said of the election results: “I expected there to be a little bit more of a blue wave than there was.”

So what’s next for the Democrats?

“I hope that we see a session where it’s not just one party cramming everything down another’s throat,” he said. “That you actually get the time to read and understand bills and have meaningful debate and create good legislation.”

McGarvey said he hopes getting a few more seats in the House enables that type of cooperation. He also said besides infrastructure and education priorities, lawmakers need to look at medical marijuana and an expanded sports gaming bill.

Republicans say a school safety bill is likely, as well as a tax reform clean-up bill.

Will there be another pension reform bill? Stivers said that all depends on what the Supreme Court decides to do with the first one - Senate Bill 151.

Copyright 2018 WAVE 3 News. All rights reserved.