By Tom Latek
Kentucky Today
U.S. Senate candidate Charles Booker may be thinking about the old Three Dog Night Song “One is the Loneliest Number” as he will apparently be the only Democrat who will appear on stage at Fancy Farm next month.
Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear, who has said he will seek re-election in 2023, sent his “regrets” in a post on social media, in which he said, “Britainy and I are visiting the Holy Land in August, giving us the amazing opportunity to deepen our faith and to learn more about Israel, one of our nation’s greatest allies. Because of this trip, we are unable to attend Fancy Farm.”
Democrat Charles Booker Speaks to a gathering of supporters as he announces his candidacy for the United States Senate at the Kentucky Center for African American Heritage in Louisville, Ky., on July 1, 2021. Booker will be the only Democrat speaking at Fancy Farm on Aug. 6. (Kentucky Today file)
Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman, who will presumable be his running mate again, made her announcement the same way: “I am not attending Fancy Farm this year. In the coming days, I will be in western Kentucky to highlight the great work Team Kentucky is doing.”
That leaves Booker, a former state representative from Louisville, who is trying to keep incumbent U.S. Senator Rand Paul from winning another term in November.
Among those who have agreed to speak at the 142nd St. Jerome Church Picnic and political stump speaking event on August 6 are the four major GOP gubernatorial candidates for 2023: Attorney General Daniel Cameron, Rep Savannah Maddox of Dry Ridge, Auditor Mike Harmon and Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles. Both Harmon and Quarles are term-limited and can’t seek re-election to their current office.
Treasurer Allison Ball, who has announced she will run for state auditor, and Secretary of State Michael Adams, who has said he may run for attorney general instead of another term in his current office, have also committed to appear.
Paul and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell have not yet committed to the event, as it will depend on whether the U.S. Senate is in session in August.
The Fancy Farm Picnic is the major fundraiser each year for St. Jerome’s Catholic Church, swelling the Graves County community’s normal population of just over 400 to more than 10 times that amount for a day of barbeque prepared by church members plus the political stump speaking.
While the picnic began in 1880, it did not become Kentucky’s top political event until 1931 when A.B. “Happy” Chandler made an appearance while campaigning for lieutenant governor. Since then, it has served during election years as the traditional kick-off to the fall campaign season.
This will be the first Fancy Farm Picnic to be at full strength since 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.
