Joseph Gerth, and Tom Loftus

The Courier-Journal

On a huge night for Kentucky Democrats, the party ran to victories in three out of four special elections, strengthening its hold on the state House of Representatives and setting back Republican efforts for a historic takeover.

Republicans avoided a sweep only by holding onto the 54th District seat.

"The rebirth of the Democratic Party, I think, started here tonight," an elated House Speaker Greg Stumbo said. “We proved tonight that we can win, our party is still strong and viable, and the news reports of our death have been greatly exaggerated.”

Other Democrats called the resounding win a repudiation of Gov. Matt Bevin's policies, which they say are too extreme. Bevin had campaigned for the four Republicans and raised money for them.

"Bevin agenda takes a huge hit," Kim Geveden, a political consultant who ran Chuck Tackett's race in the 62nd district, said in a text message. "He's going to have to start practicing what he preaches - set partisan politics aside and work with Democrats to solve the challenges we face without slashing education and gutting the Executive Branch Ethics Commission."

The Democratic victory also came one day after Bevin posted a video on Facebook chiding House Democrats for not being in the chamber working to pass a budget. In fact, they were working on the budget in a conference room in the state Capitol Annex.

Democrats had been reeling since Bevin won the Governor's mansion in November. In the following weeks, two House Democrats switched parties to become Republicans and Bevin lured two representatives out of the House for higher-paying jobs.

"In trying to buy the House of Representatives, the governor offered lucrative positions to two of our members. We were able to fill both of those seats this evening ... In addition, we picked up a third seat ... so the momentum in the legislative races is on the side of the Democrats," said state Rep. Sannie Overly, D-Paris, who is the House Democratic Caucus Chair and the Chairwoman of the state Democratic Party.

She said Democrats won because they fielded "high quality" candidates. "And we ran on issues that matter to people. We ran on protecting public education in Kentucky from the devastating cuts proposed by the governor. And we ran on protecting the health care of Kentuckians."

Meanwhile, Republicans were regrouping after failing to move into a 50-50 tie in the House.

"With Republican candidates running in 91 House districts and the Democrats tied to the Obama-Clinton agenda, I am confident we will take the majority and turn Kentucky in a new direction in November," state GOP chairman Mac Brown said in a statement.

The night started well for the Democrats as former circuit judge Lew Nicholls claimed victory in the 98th District when Republican Tony Quillan conceded just after 7 p.m.

In the 62nd District, in the Bluegrass region, Chuck Tackett beat lawn care company owner Phillip Pratt, wresting away a seat that had been held by the GOP. Bevin had campaigned during the day for Pratt.

And in Western Kentucky's 8th District, Jeffrey R. Taylor, buoyed by a get-out-the-vote robocall from President Barack Obama to Democratic voters, beat Republican Walker Wood Thomas.

The only GOP bright spot was in Boyle and Casey counties, where Republican Daniel Elliott, riding a wave of support in heavily Republican Casey County, beat Democrat Bill Noelker in a battle of Danville lawyers.

The three Democratic victories mean the party will hold a 53-47 margin in the House and look to be assured of continuing its 95-year hold on the chamber through at least the end of the year.

In many ways, these weren't races between candidates. They were battles between Republican super PACs and pro-Democratic labor unions.

The Republican PACs spent heavily on mailers and some television and radio ads while the labor unions canvassed for candidates and sent mail pieces into the districts.

"Working families in Kentucky spoke loud and clear tonight. ... working families rejected Governor Bevin's plans to drive Kentucky to the bottom. Voters rejected the Governor, out of state corporate interests, and the Republican Leadership’s hand-picked candidates whose main goals are to make our workplaces less safe, decrease wages, increase poverty and destroy public education," a statement from the Kentucky State AFL-CIO said.

The victory in northeastern Kentucky's 98th District was expected. That seat had been held by Tonya Pullin, a South Shore Democrat who resigned when Bevin appointed her to be an administrative law judge.

There, Democrats, with the help of labor unions including school teachers, tried to use the issue of so-called "right-to-work" legislation to spur voters to the polls.

Last year, West Virginia passed similar legislation, which allows people to work in union shops without paying union dues or representation fees. Residents of the district, which has nearly 7,000 union homes, saw a steady diet of news on Huntington, W. Va., television about the impact of the law, which Kentucky Republicans have promised to pass.

Winning the seat in the 62nd was a bit less probable for Democrats. Tackett, a Scott County commissioner, lost out on the seat in 2014 when he challenged Ryan Quarles, who was elected in November as state agriculture commissioner.

But Tackett was able to edge out Pratt, 52 percent to 48 percent, according to the Associated Press. His win came despite heavy spending by Republican Super PACs in the race.

In Western Kentucky's 8th District, Taylor easily outpaced Thomas for the seat vacated by former Rep. John Tilley, a Hopkinsville Democrat who resigned to become Bevin's justice secretary.

The Kentucky Education Association, which represents thousands of teachers, was active across the state. Stumbo said Democratic support played a key role in the race.

"I attribute it to - and we know this from polling - that Kentuckians are very, very supportive of a strong public education system. Kentuckians are also supportive of a balanced government," he said. "I think they like that the Republicans have a say in the Senate and the Democrats have a say in the House."

Reporter Joseph Gerth can be reached at (502) 582-4702 or jgerth@courier-journal.com. Reporter Tom Loftus can be reached (502) 875-5136 or tloftus@courier-journal.com.