Greg Stumbo only democrat for Attorney General
Greg Stumbo, a former Kentucky attorney general and House speaker, filed with the secretary of state’s office on Friday seeking to return as attorney general.
Greg Stumbo
Stumbo said he plans to continue the message he held while in the office before.
“We’re going to talk about opioids. We’re going to talk about protecting people’s rights. We’re going to do some of the things we did before, only it’s a new era,” he said.
Since he was defeated for re-election to the General Assembly in 2016, Stumbo has been working for Morgan and Morgan, the law firm hired by Attorney General Andy Beshear to handle the nine lawsuits Beshear filed against opioid manufacturers and distributors.
Beshear is leaving his post to run for governor.
Stumbo said pharmaceutical companies have profited in opioid crisis at the expense of Kentucky families. “And I am convinced that we can bring justice to those distributors and manufacturers that have caused all this death and destruction.”
Stumbo is the first Democrat to file for attorney general.
Heather French Henry files for Secretary of State
A former Miss America from Kentucky, who has been involved with Veterans issues for some two decades, filed for the Democratic nomination for secretary of state in the May primary.
Heather French Henry, 44, the wife of former Lt. Gov. Steve Henry, signed her papers on Friday while accompanied by family and friends at the Capitol office she hopes to occupy in 2020.
Heather French Henry
She has served as commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Veterans Affairs under then-Gov. Steve Beshear and Gov. Matt Bevin kept her on as deputy commissioner.
“Serving at Veterans Affairs has given me a wealth of experience in running a statewide department, with over 900 employees a more than $100 million budget,” said Henry. “I’ve worked with the office on many different platforms. Certainly, with our service-disabled veterans to small business ownership program. I want to create partnerships and inter-agency cooperation to provide extraordinary services that extend beyond what we have now.”
Henry said she’s not concerned how recent elections in the state have trended toward Republicans.
“My work ethic in the past speaks for itself. I’ve worked with legislators on both sides of the aisle through legislative policy. I think I have great experience with that, so I’m hoping that even though it’s a partisan race, I’ll be able to run this office in a non-partisan manner.”
Jason Griffith of Whitesburg is the only other Democrat to file secretary of state. Republicans Michael Adams, Andrew English and Carl Nett have also filed for the office.
Republican Steven Knipper has filed a letter of intent with the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance.
Tuesday is the final day for party candidates to file for 2019 Constitutional Office races in Kentucky.
