Republican lawmakers: Bevin can't turn election dispute into 'fishing expedition'

Joe Sonka | Courier Journal

Show Caption Hide Caption Kentucky governors race: Gov. Matt Bevin requests a recanvass Gov. Matt Bevin holds a press conference aftger requesting a recanvass of votes in the Kentucky gubernatorial election

Republicans in Kentucky's legislature have expressed skepticism about Gov. Matt Bevin's dispute with Tuesday night's election results, saying the governor should back up his claims of "irregularities" and not drag the outcome beyond next week's recanvass.

"If there is evidence of fraud or illegalities, as was alluded to last night, Governor Bevin should state his claim immediately and let the evidence be reviewed," Rep. Jason Nemes, R-Louisville, wrote in a Facebook post on Wednesday. "But this is not an opportunity for a fishing expedition or a chance to overturn the election result."

With the Kentucky secretary of state's results showing he finished 5,189 votes behind Democrat Andy Beshear, his bitter political rival, Bevin requested a recanvass Wednesday.

The recanvass involves each county's election board counting absentee votes and checking printouts to make sure the vote totals they transmitted to the State Board of Elections on Tuesday were correct. It will take place on the morning of Nov. 14.

Bevin told a crowd of supporters in Louisville on Tuesday night after the votes were counted that he would not concede to Beshear, referring to unspecified voting "irregularities."

More coverage: What officials, experts say about Bevin's voter fraud claims

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Minutes later, Republican Senate President Robert Stivers suggested that under state law, Bevin could formally contest the election by calling a special session of the Kentucky General Assembly.

Under such a session, a committee could review evidence of illegal activity and decide either to recommend a new election or declare a candidate the winner. Both chambers would then vote on whether to approve that decision.

In a statement to reporters at the Kentucky Governor's Mansion in Frankfort on Wednesday evening, Bevin made additional allegations suggesting voting fraud and illegal activity, including a claim of "thousands of absentee ballots that were illegally counted."

"That is known," he said.

Bevin did not provide any evidence for this claim or others but said that his campaign was working on "getting affidavits and other information" to verify them.

Nemes said that while a recanvass may be appropriate, he warned that the winning candidate "is entitled to govern with the recognition of others who ran and lost, no matter how painful that may be."

He added that "Governor-elect Beshear is entitled to the democratic legitimacy that comes with loser's consent. So let's go through the process honorably and expeditiously and give it to him."

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Several other Republican state legislators shared a similar sentiment with The Courier Journal, including Rep. Adam Koenig of Erlanger in Northern Kentucky.

"For all the Republicans who scream and yell that we shouldn't overturn an election with impeachment and removal of the president, they should feel exactly the same way about overturning an election for the governor's race," Koenig said.

Koenig said Bevin's recanvass request was "within his rights," but the lawmaker was very skeptical that it would change the outcome of the race. He was also wary of a formal election contest placing the outcome in the hands of a special session of the legislature, saying he also didn't want a "fishing expedition."

"It would have to be a gigantic mountain of evidence" of fraud in order to nullify the results, Koenig added.

Sen. Chris McDaniel, R-Taylor Mill, told The Courier Journal he could not fault Bevin for requesting a recanvass, citing his own personal experience: He was the running mate of James Comer when they came 83 votes short of beating Bevin in the 2015 gubernatorial primary, the results of which were unchanged after a recanvass.

But McDaniel said there was no chance of Bevin picking up anywhere near the 5,190 votes he would need to defeat Beshear.

"If somebody were to put an additional zero somewhere in error and could have influenced this many votes, it would have been caught already," McDaniel said. "I think the possibility of a recanvass catching something in this election is between slim and none."

Asked about Bevin's allegations of irregularities, McDaniel said he was not aware of any problems in his Kenton County district, adding that "if (Bevin) wants to make those allegations he's got to be prepared to prove them."

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Due to the possibility that he would be a potential juror, McDaniel declined to comment specifically on the prospects of a formal legislative election contest, but he agreed with Koenig that there would have to be an enormous amount of evidence to overturn an election.

"If we're going to go down that road, there has to be such solid evidence of large scale fraud that it would break my heart and should rock the faith that people have in the democratic process," McDaniel said. "It would have to be massive levels of voter fraud for us to head down that process, and I certainly hope we don't head down it."

Republican House Speaker David Osborne issued a statement Thursday morning that "the legislature has no role whatsoever in the Governor's request for a recanvass or even in a potential recount," but he did not address the governor's claims suggesting illegal activity.

Stivers, who brought up the specter of an election contest on Tuesday, issued a statement Thursday that "it is the Governor’s prerogative to request recanvassing or file an application to contest the election, both of which will have a very high bar to succeed."

"If such a situation arises when the Senate’s involvement is required as prescribed by the Kentucky Constitution, our chamber will fulfill its requirements with the upmost objectivity and impartiality,” Stivers said.

Whatever road Bevin decides to take, McDaniel said he is prepared to accept the will of the voters and to work with Beshear.

"It appears to me that Andy Beshear was the democratically elected governor of the commonwealth, and we get our marching orders from the voters," McDaniel said. "We've been told to find a way to run Kentucky with him at the head and Republicans in the House in the Senate, and we'll do it.

"We're not going to have as much common ground with him as we did with Matt Bevin, but that's the way this process works. So we'll get there and we'll do our best to work with him."

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Democratic Sen. Morgan McGarvey of Louisville put the matter more bluntly in a statement released Wednesday, warning Bevin not to undermine the democratic process.

"Any attempt by Gov. Bevin to undermine these results in the legislature is wrong and should be viewed as a direct attack on the democratic process." McGarvey stated. "Once the recanvass is complete, the General Assembly must accept the outcome of this election and help Governor-elect Beshear prepare for the 2020 budget.”

An adviser of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has also thrown dirt on Bevin's political grave, telling The Courier Journal that "there's nobody who thinks he won the election. We counted the votes, and he lost."

"When you treat people poorly for four years, talk down to them, and you're the smartest person in the room all the time, that comes home to roost. You can't just be a jerk and there not be a consequence," said a longtime and close McConnell confidante, who asked for anonymity to speak freely.

Opinion: Matt Bevin lost the Kentucky governor's race because he's a jerk

Reach reporter Joe Sonka at jsonka@courierjournal.com or 502-582-4472 and follow him on Twitter at @joesonka. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courierjournal.com/subscribe.