Two weeks before the November 5th General Election, one major topic stands before the people of Commonwealth.
And who will be the next President of the United States — Kamala Harris or Donald Trump — might not be foremost for everyone.
Certainly, Tuesday night’s “Make Kentucky Great Again” Republican rally at the Casey Jones Distillery saw Congressman James Comer and Senator Rand Paul take their shots at the last four years of the Biden/Harris administration, and their beliefs around an unchecked border, an unchecked debt ceiling and unchecked foreign relations.
But Amendment 2, the Kentucky General Assembly’s ask to allow public funds into private schools, impacts communities at the ground level — especially Hopkinsville, Pembroke, Oak Grove and Crofton.
In an interview with the News Edge, Comer said he “strongly supports public schools” and called students “the key to the future.” He doesn’t want to cut public education “one penny,” but also noted this is “a state issue, and not a federal issue,” and he finds the amendment’s language not only a little confusing, but not entirely properly handled by the state’s Republicans, nor Democrats.
Not even 15 minutes later, Paul addressed his endorsement of Amendment 2 to a large crowd — citing Jefferson County’s boondoggle, and the Kentucky Supreme Court’s “liberal” denial of previous school legislation, as key reasons to bring this law to life.
Paul also said that Amendment 2 doesn’t do anything “but allow the Kentucky legislature to vote” on issues concerning schools. It might be school choice. It might be vouchers. It might be vouchers for the poorest in Kentucky, or the bottom 5-to-10% of poor students in Kentucky.
Whatever the case, Paul noted the amendment’s consequences, pass or fail, would impact more than Jefferson County.
However, according to a July 2024 Kentucky Policy report, and depending on public-to-private spending models possibly implemented from other U.S. states, Christian County Public Schools would stand to lose between 3-to-15% of its annual state appropriations redirected elsewhere.
Theoretically, this equates to anywhere from a $2.7 million loss to a $16.4 million loss, which would mean the removal of between 24 and 143 staffers.
This data is based on current Arizona and Florida voucher programs being inserted into Kentucky’s current budget.
Among other notes from Tuesday’s rally:
— In attendance, Todd County Judge-Executive Todd Mansfield: who was recognized for recently changing parties from Democrat to Republican.
Mansfield said he didn’t “feel any different,” because he thought he’d already been a Republican.
Now, it’s official, and he reflected on something Paul said during his short run for President in 2016.
— Jason Hassert, field representative for Paul, noted that Christian County is less than 700 voters away from being a Republican majority, meaning more than 21,000 are now registered with the GOP. This is a massive swing not only for the state’s second-largest county, but a major shift for Hopkinsville, Kentucky’s 11th largest city based on 2024 population estimates. Currently, all city council seats are held by Republicans.
REPORTS: Amendment-2-Report-final-2.pdf (kypolicy.org)
Paul’s full audio:
Comer’s full audio:
Jason Fleming’s full audio:
Hopkinsville City Council full audio:
Myron Dossett’s full audio:
