Abramson to join Beshear ticket for 2011 re-election

Formal announcements Monday in Frankfort, Louisville

By RONNIE ELLIS

FRANKFORT — Gov. Steve Beshear will formally announce Monday morning he’s running for a second term and Louisville Metro Mayor Jerry Abramson will be his running mate in 2011.

“I’ll be announcing tomorrow I’m going to run for re-election,” Beshear said in a short telephone interview Sunday evening. “And my running mate is going to be Mayor Jerry Abramson of Louisville.”

The official announcement will come at 9 a.m. at Berry Hill Mansion in Frankfort with a second announcement scheduled for 2 p.m. in Louisville. The two will spend the next two days flying around the state, visiting Bowling Green, Paducah and Owensboro on Tuesday and Hazard, Ashland and Covington on Wednesday.

The ticket has been rumored for weeks, but Beshear and his team had steadfastly refused to confirm it while Abramson has consistently fended off questions by saying he was concentrating on a decision about running for re-election in 2010 for mayor.

“These are serious times,” Beshear said. “We’re in one of the worst economic crises of our lifetime and serious times call for serious leaders. I can’t think of anybody with a better record than Jerry Abramson’s. His record over two decades as mayor of the largest city in Kentucky is outstanding.”

Beshear said he does not expect Abramson to resign as mayor and join the administration, saying Abramson intends to complete his term which ends in 2010. He said Abramson will “be a full partner” in a second Beshear administration but wouldn’t say what kind of job or role he might ask Abramson to accept.

The position of Economic Development Secretary is open and is currently filled on an interim basis by Larry Hayes, Beshear’s Secretary of the Cabinet. Hayes worked for Abramson before joining Beshear’s administration in 2007.

Beshear said Abramson will spend much of the next two years “getting out in the state and letting people get to know him.”

Danny Briscoe, a Louisville political consultant and former Kentucky Democratic Party Chairman, said he has always supported and likes Abramson, but he isn’t sure what he does for Beshear’s ticket – other than bring an ability to raise money.

He said Beshear might have been wise to choose a moderate Democrat from western Kentucky.

Beshear is popular in Jefferson County and adding Abramson doesn’t seem to give him a geographic advantage for the 2011 election. But Abramson is a prolific fundraiser, and Beshear conceded Sunday that raising money for political campaigns is “an unfortunate fact of life in these times.”

Beshear said he is “from rural Kentucky, from Dawson Springs” in western Kentucky and he’s more interested in what Abramson brings to the ticket after the election than in what he can do for the ticket during the 2011 election.

“To get a leader like him to run with me is really extraordinary,” Beshear said.

Abramson has served as mayor in Louisville for all but four years in the past two decades, first as the mayor of the city of Louisville and subsequently as mayor of Louisville-Jefferson County Metro Government.

Sometimes called “Mayor for Life,” Abramson has enjoyed immense popularity in the state’s largest city, but lately has encountered rougher sledding. He’s taken flak for his handling of debris removal after last year’s wind and ice storms and he’s been cross ways with firemen and labor leaders. Still, his popularity remains well over 50 percent according to polling.

Under Kentucky’s campaign finance laws, candidate for governor must file a slate of candidates for governor and lieutenant governor before they can begin raising money. With current Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo’s decision to seek the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate seat held by incumbent Republican Sen. Jim Bunning, Beshear needed a new running mate.

Ronnie Ellis writes for CNHI News Service and is based in Frankfort. Reach him at rellis@cnhi.com.

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