Contrary to reports of a “blue wave” in November’s election, Sen. Rand Paul said his home state of Kentucky actually hit with an under-the-radar “red wave.”
He noted that Republicans won five of six statewide races in Tuesday’s balloting, although those victories were overshadowed by the apparent defeat of GOP Gov. Matt Bevin, who has not conceded pending the Nov. 14 recanvassing to verify the results.
“When you look at all the races — there were six statewide races — we won five out of six,” Mr. Paul said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “We did lose the governor’s race, we were disappointed in it. But the interesting thing is we beat a lot of other candidates and no one expected us to, so actually in many ways, there was sort of a red wave in Kentucky.”
NEW : On the Kentucky election, @RandPaul says in many ways “there was sort of a red wave in Kentucky” #MTP #IfItsSunday
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) November 10, 2019
“I think it was mostly particularly about one race and I think the teachers were very unhappy … I think the teachers anger came out.” pic.twitter.com/6g7pklggBP
The Kentucky Republican attributed the governor’s loss in large part to efforts to reform the state’s public pension system, which spurred teachers’ strikes and walkouts.
“I think the teachers were very unhappy. He tried to fix the pension, but got crossways with the teachers, and I think the teachers’ anger came out,” Mr. Paul said. “But I think he was trying to do the right thing which was save the pension for the teachers, but it is tough when you ask people to pay more to keep their pension in place. People get unhappy.”
Mr. Bevin, who trails Democratic Attorney General Andy Beshear by about 5,000 votes, cited “a number of significant irregularities” in the election.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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