Thursday News & Notes

Headlines from across the political landscape, including one just now breaking via Twitter.

With all eyes on Roe, judge grants injunction blocking Kentucky's sweeping abortion law

A federal judge issued an order Thursday that preliminary blocks a new ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy in Kentucky from taking effect for now.

In addition to putting the 15-week abortion ban on ice, the judge also blocked enforcement of major parts of the law that would restrict access to abortion medication and place new restrictions on abortion access for people under 18 years old.

This ruling means abortion services remain available to Kentuckians without being impacted by any of these restrictions under the law, the ultimate legality of which is still unresolved in this court case. (Courier-Journal)

Geoff Young is Democratic nominee for Congress. Why Gov. Beshear, party don’t support him.

Geoff Young is a highly unorthodox candidate for political office. He has run a race for Congress this year focused mostly on foreign policy, he ran for office in the opposite party last election cycle; and he’s lost court battles suing both Kentucky parties, as well as media organizations, for allegedly “rigging” primaries against him. Young is a perennial candidate, campaigning for several offices and as a member of several parties, never getting particularly close to winning the nomination for any political office. And yet, with 25,712 votes to challenger Chris Preece’s 24,003, the eighth time running for something in Kentucky was the charm.

The state’s top Democrats seem none too happy about Young’s presence on the ticket. Gov. Andy Beshear said at a press conference on Wednesday that he will not be supporting Young. The Kentucky Democratic Party released a statement saying they could not support a candidate who has frequently sued “the party, its officers and virtually every elected official over the past decade.” (Herald-Leader)

Electioneering issues, alleged vote buying among hundreds of reports called in by KY voters

Electioneering concerns, procedural questions and campaign violations were among the top complaints called into Kentucky election officials regarding Tuesday’s statewide primary contests. Attorney General Daniel Cameron’s office fielded complaints from Kentucky’s election law violations hotline before the May 17 primaries, on Election Day and after the close of polls.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the office was reporting 148 Election Day complaints, alongside 82 made prior to the election and 41 made after polls closed Tuesday night. The office uses broad categories to publicly report violations and does not give specific details on incidents. (Herald-Leader)

Results unclear in Fayette County race following ballot mix up

The results of the fourth district seat on the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council are hanging in the balance after a ballot mix-up prevented some people from voting in the race while allowing others to vote in it that should not have.

On Tuesday, Brenda Monarrez was reported as the frontrunner with 39% of the vote or 1,121 votes. J. “Brack” Marquette came in second with 31% of the vote or 908 votes, and Barry Saturday finished in third with 30% of the vote or 865 votes.

Officials say two bags of paper ballots at two precincts were mixed. The issue was discovered a few hours later after 71 people already voted. The second and third place candidates in the race are only separated by less than 50 votes. Both are now unsure who is the rightful candidate to continue on to the November election. (Fox56)

GOP candidate running for Yarmuth's seat to ask for recanvass of votes

A Kentucky GOP candidate running to replace retiring U.S. Rep John Yarmuth said she plans to ask for state election officials to recanvass her race after losing by just 58 votes.

Rhonda Palazzo, who is running for Kentucky’s third congressional district, lost by less than one-tenth of a percent.

Erran Huber, a spokesperson for the Jefferson County Clerk's Office, said that candidates may file a written request for a recanvass if the difference of total votes between two candidates is less than 1%. According to the most recent preliminary election results, Stuart Ray won the GOP nomination with 9,703 votes. Palazzo got 9,645 votes. (WHAS)

Mitch McConnell condemns racism as 'abhorrent' but sidesteps questions about 'great replacement theory'

Some Republicans have promoted a version of the “replacement theory” that motivated the Buffalo shooter. Insider and 2 other reporters repeatedly asked McConnell about the theory, but he wouldn’t denounce it. He said racism “ought to be stood up to by everybody, both Republicans and Democrats.” (Business Insider)

Scott Jennings working with Russell Coleman for AG, ‘neutral’ in GOP governor’s race

We’re getting a little more insight into the Republican campaigns for statewide office next year, including Governor and Attorney General and one of the people behind an already announced candidate. In a live television interview with KET’s Renee Shaw on Election Night, Scott Jennings, a close ally of U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell and CNN commentator, said he is “supporting” former U.S. Attorney Russell Coleman for Kentucky Attorney General, adding his company RunSwitch PR “helped launch his campaign.” The more interesting tidbit came moments later when Jennings said he was a “neutral player in the governor’s race.” (KY Fried Politics)

And from the Twitterverse: