GOP candidates vying for 50th District representative square off in online debate

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio

Monday, June 8, 2020 — The candidates seeking to be the Republican nominee for 50th District state representative squared off Monday evening for an hour-long debate in the PLG TV studio.

The debate wasn’t aired live on PLG, but was streamed live on social media.

Two-term incumbent state Rep. Chad McCoy and his challenger, Don Thrasher, the chairman of the county Republican party, began his opening statement with the first of a number of attacks on McCoy and his record as the incumbent state representative.

In his opening statements, McCoy noted that “a lot of people on the internet like to spew half-truths,” he said. “Well tonight, you’re going to hear the whole truth.”

Thrasher continued his attacks on McCoy and his record throughout the hour-long debate.

The first question McCoy fielded asked if he believed he was responsible for losing the support of the local Republican party.

McCoy said that Thrasher had basically hijacked the local party organization, and that he didn’t believe he had lost the support of the majority of 50th District Republicans. The real answer to that question will come with the results of the June 23rd primary election, McCoy said.

He noted how Thrasher has often said one thing and then done the other, like running for state representative, which he initially said he would not do. And then he apparently stepped down as chairman of the county party before he later stepped back into that role.

In an early morning text message, Thrasher stated that he never stepped down as party chairman. After he filed as a candidate for state representative, Brenda Alexander was named acting chair of the county Republican party.

“What we see continuously is half truths and a little bit of truth that gets twisted, and whole lot of not doing what he says he’s going to do,” he said of Thrasher.

McCoy noted that he has received national recognition for his conservative voting record. “To say that I’m not conservative or not Republican is just insane,” McCoy said.

Thrasher was asked about his decision to run for state representative after repeatedly promising that he would not run. Thrasher explained that he felt it necessary to run after a “vicious whisper campaign” was launched against Philip Bischoff who original filed as a candidate for 50th District state representative and withdrew from the race on Jan. 10, 2020.

Thrasher strongly disagreed with McCoy’s assertion that he had hijacked the county GOP. He attacked McCoy for not attending the local party’s meetings.

POLICE VIOLENCE. When asked his view on police violence protests, Thrasher said that the concerns are mostly with the larger population centers with large police forces.

“At a local level, I think we’re doing a good job,” he said. The larger counties like Jefferson and Fayette need to look at it, he said.

McCoy, who sits on the Joint Interim Judiciary Committee, said that the committee he’s on is already been looking at the issue. Representatives from Black Lives Matter have offered input to the committee, and the legislature has been making pushes to reform the state’s criminal justice system, including requests to review the police officer’s bill of rights that’s part of Kentucky Revised Statutes.

GOV’S PANDEMIC EXECUTIVE ORDERS. McCoy said the governor was given power by the legislature to issue emergency executive orders, and the first two weeks of the pandemic, McCoy said he agreed with the steps Gov. Beshear took. But McCoy said he disagreed with the governor’s actions on deciding which businesses were deemed essential and non-essential. He suggested that the business community should have been control over determining how they could find solutions that would allow them to continue to operate.

Thrasher took McCoy to task for the House leadership’s lack of action to prompt action to limit the Governor’s executive orders. Thrasher said Gov. Beshear should be held accountable for all the babies murdered after the House failed to override the Governor’s veto of the Born Alive Act.

McCoy said the legislature approved two COVID-19 related bills and took other actions, including dropping the waiting period for filing for unemployment.

Thrasher said the state’s businesses must be allowed to reopen after we shut down our economy.

McCoy said we need to get government out of the way of business operation. He said the legislature should take a look at the governor’s ability to issue executive orders without time limits. He would support a legislative review committee to review executive orders to offer checks and balance to the governor’s executive orders.

Thrasher accused McCoy of shutting down his official Facebook account due to McCoy’s ethics violations. He chastised McCoy for not speaking out against Gov. Beshear’s use of executive orders.

Thrasher said in June 2019, he email members of the House Republican caucus and complained that McCoy was in violation of House ethics rules. Thrasher demanded that McCoby be removed from his leadership position as House Majority Whip.

McCoy took issue with Thrasher’s allegations he violated House ethics rules.

“If Don Thrasher thinks I’ve violated the ethics rules, then why hasn’t he turned me in, and why haven’t I gotten in trouble?” McCoy asked. “The fact of the matter is that he’s simply telling lies.”

PRIMARY ELECTION. Thrasher said he was opposed to having just one polling location for in-person and drive-thru voting. He said people who are older and have a fear of voting by absentee ballot, and are afraid their vote won’t count.

“I don’t want them to not vote because they think their mail-in ballot won’t count,” Thrasher said.

McCoy said he was opposed to mail-in voting, which is the practice of mailing out ballots to everyone on the voter roles. The state has more than 100,000 people on the voter roles who have died or moved out of state.

He supports the absentee voting process because it requires voters to prove their identity before they are mailed a ballot.

He took issue with creating a single location for in-person voting. People have a right to show up and vote, and we all know the risks, he explained. People are going shopping now and wearing masks and taking precautions. “We’re going to Walmart — why can’t we show up and vote?”

McCoy said he is afraid there will be problems with a single polling place for in-person voting.

Thrasher attacked McCoy for the House’s lack of action to fight for more in-person polling locations.

CLOSING STATEMENTS. In his closing statement, Thrasher against alleged McCoy committed ethics violations, adding that he had video of McCoy opening a bottle of bourbon on his official social media page and thanking the distillery for giving him the bottle.losing statements

Thrasher detailed his launch of a soft drinking company and his history as a successful businessman.

McCoy said he’s enjoyed his two terms representing the 50th District, and told voter that he’s there to do the job and hopes to continue to represent Nelson County in Frankfort.

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