Lexington native wins Secretary of State

Kentucky’s new Secretary of State is Lexington’s own Alison Lundergan Grimes. She won with 61% of the vote. This win is larger than any other democrat in today’s races.

The job details of Secretary of State include regulating elections and businesses.
Grimes plans to help small businesses in the state. Grimes says she will “modernize the office [of secretary of state], offering online support.”
Another of her goals is to generate more interest in elections. Grimes says she “will work with students, school employees, teachers and our county clerks to increase participation in the election process.” This is especially important after the very low voter turnout this year.
Grimes is currently the President of the Women Lawyers’ Association of the Fayette County Bar and has been recognized with the Outstanding Young Lawyer Award. As an attorney, Grimes says she has worked with the Office of Secretary of State and knows the job well. Grimes grew up in politics with father Jerry Lundergan, a former Democratic Party Chair.

Grimes beat republican candidate Bill Johnson of Elkton, Ky. Johnson. A member of the Tea Party, Johnson did not raise nearly as much campaign money as Grimes, though he said this was not the reason for his loss. Instead, he credited a strong day for Steve Beshear as a big help for Grimes and other Kentucky democrats.
On many issues, Grimes and Johnson agreed, their differences came in the methods to achieve certain goals. For example, both wanted to increase voter turnout and decrease voter fraud, however, Johnson campaigned on a promise to require identification to vote, a restriction Grimes is firmly against.