Woman who falsely declared Bevin winner says she feared the devil would steal the election

Julia Fair | Cincinnati Enquirer

She thought it was true, but it wasn't.

Covington resident Alyssa Dara McDowell, 50, stormed the stage at a GOP event in Louisville the night of the Kentucky gubernatorial election and falsely announced Gov. Matt Bevin won. Looking back, she said she could have reworded what flew out of her mouth.

Her intent, she said, was to pray for Bevin.

"I was a little more riled up about this election than I usually am," McDowell said.

That's because of her experience with abortion. She had two in the early 90s, she said. Now, she opposes abortion and wants a governor, like Bevin, with the same views. McDowell, her husband and eight kids live in Covington.

She didn't have a plan, she told The Enquirer. She just wanted to do everything she could to help Bevin win.

To help Bevin, McDowell wore a Wonder Woman t-shirt and waved signs in Kenton County to get people to the polls. She did that until 6 p.m., she said, because she wanted everyone to remember to vote.

When the polls closed McDowell picked up a friend and drove to The Galt House Hotel in Louisville where she would be kicked out of later that night. People on social media sites Twitter and Reddit wondered if McDowell was drunk when she ran on the stage, but she wasn't, she said, and added she hadn't had anything to drink that day.

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She just wanted to pray, she said, and felt compelled to do so when she realized no one else at the event was doing so.

McDowell and her friend prayed. They got another friend on the phone and prayed and started a Facebook live and prayed there with her social media followers.

She felt a "dark undercurrent," and feared "the devil was going to steal the election."

The prayer brought her to the stage, she said.

In the viral video, which has close to 400,000 views, McDowell is seen on the stage with her phone pressed to her ear. Her friend on the phone rattled off results to her and said Bevin had won big in one of the counties. But that's not what she shouted in the mic before two men escorted her off the stage.

"I felt like what I was saying was true," she said about her false announcement that Bevin won. Her family, who has a good sense of humor, realized her moment went viral the next morning. She still thinks Bevin won the election, she added.

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Bevin accepted the results when he conceded Nov. 14 after a recanvass, which showed the same narrow victory for Democrat Andy Beshear.

McDowell, a stay-at-home mom, helps her husband run a car window repair company. She's no stranger to Northern Kentucky politics.

In 2010 she ran for Kenton County Judge-Executive as an independent, but she lost. In 2012 she launched a failed bid for Covington mayor denouncing what she called the “homosexual agenda” and outlining her fears about homosexuality being promoted in Covington, according to an interview with the River City News.

In September, McDowell was appointed by Bevin to the state's Consumer's Advisory Council, which publishes an annual report on the state of consumer affairs in Kentucky. Her term expires in September 2020.

"I definitely am open to running again," McDowell said.

Julia is the Northern Kentucky government reporter through the Report For America program. The Enquirer needs a local donor to help her grant-funded position. Email her editor Carl Weiser for more details at cweiser@cincinna.gannett.com.

Do you know something she should know? Send her a note at jfair@enquirer.com and follow her on twitter at @JFair_Reports.

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