Steve Beshear

Gov. Steve Beshear (D-Lexington) will maintain a busy schedule this evening, hitting fundraisers in both Louisville and Owensboro, according to reports.

Pat Crowley of the Kentucky Enquirer reports Beshear will host a fundraiser for 23rd state Senate district candidate Kathy Groob (D-Covington) at Louisville's 21C Museum Hotel this evening.

Groob is engaged in an expensive battle for the northern Kentucky district held by state Sen. Jack Westwood (R-Crescent Springs), with Polwatchers recently reporting that Groob has already spent over $186,000 in the race to Westwood's nearly $62,000.

Beshear is scheduled to be in Owensboro tonight for an event benefitting another Democratic candidate - state Sen. David Boswell (D-Owensboro), who is seeking the 2nd Congressional District seat against Republican state Sen. Brett Guthrie, of Bowling Green.

State Rep. Larry Belcher (D-Sheperdsville) died last night in an auto accident near Smith's Grove, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal.

Belcher's pick-up truck reportedly struck the back of a tractor trailer that was stopped on Interstate 65 in south central Kentucky. He died at the scene of the accident.

Belcher had served as a member of the state House for a total of six years, including a stint from 1998 to 2002, and from 2006 to present. He lost a bid to win a state Senate seat in 2002.

Before his service in Frankfort, Belcher was a long-time teacher and principal. In Frankfort, Belcher was vice chair of the House Education committee.

Belcher was married with two children.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of my friend Larry Belcher,” said Governor Steve Beshear (D-Lexington) in a release last night. “He loved his home and his state and he represented them both with great pride and commitment.”

Approval ratings for Gov. Steve Beshear (D-Lexington) raised substantially in the last two months, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal's Bluegrass poll. Sixty percent of respondents to that poll said they approve of the job Beshear is doing as Governor - a dramatic reversal from approval numbers released in late July.

The Bluegrass poll finds only 23 percent of those 800 surveyed statewide disapprove of Beshear's job performance.

A Rasmussen Reports survey from July 29 found just 33 percent of those polled rated Beshear's performance as "excellent" or "good," while 33 percent rated Beshear's work as "fair" and 28 percent as "poor."

As reports abound of gas prices rocketing upwards overnight in the state, Governor Steve Beshear (D-Lexington) declared a state of emergency this afternoon in an effort to stop price gouging.

"I am outraged by the voracious practices of price gouging we are seeing," said Beshear in a statement. "Today, I have taken an extraordinary step to protect the consumers of the commonwealth from these predators."

Beshear is said to be partnering with Attorney General Jack Conway (D-Louisville) in the effort, which comes in advance of the expected spike in prices following the landfall of Hurricane Ike in Texas.

"We have received an overwhelming influx of reports from across Kentucky regarding gasoline price spikes and even rationing," said Conway. "I felt it was important to get the price gouging protections in place as soon as possible to protect the commonwealth's consumers and businesses."

Following Beshear's order, Conway will be able to investigate and prosecute claims of predatory pricing amid the expected weather emergency in the Gulf Coast.

DENVER – Governor Steve Beshear’s speech to Kentucky’s Democratic National Convention delegates in Denver on Wednesday framed the potential election of his party’s presidential nominee in no uncertain terms.

“I don’t think, since Brown v. Board of Education, in 1954, will there be one singular moment that will make a bigger difference in race relations in this country than when on November the 4th we elect Barack Obama,” said Beshear, referencing the Supreme Court decision that laid the framework for school desegregation.

Beshear said the convention this year was of “historic” proportions due to the heavy involvement of the Democratic presidential primary’s foremost two candidates – Obama and U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.).

“Those two people in one single year are going to make a bigger difference for our country in what they have done, in what they have gone through in these campaigns, in how they have debated these issues, in how they are going to lead us to a great victory,” said Beshear.

DENVER – Appearing at his first state delegation breakfast of the convention, Governor Steve Beshear (D-Lexington) addressed the crowd this morning in Denver. He was part of a line-up that included former state party chair Terry McBrayer and presumptive presidential nominee Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) environmental advisor, professor Dan Esty.

Most of the Kentucky delegation then went several blocks east from their downtown Denver hotel to a restaurant for a luncheon featuring a little non-political star power. Actress Ashley Judd, who grew up in the Bluegrass state, joined the delegates for a meal.

Judd also sat with the delegation in the Pepsi Center last night.

The Kentucky delegation was offered the opportunity to bike from their hotel to the luncheon by the “Freewheelin’” program – an organization providing free bikes at the convention as part of an effort to make the event more environmentally-friendly.

When asked how by party chair Jennifer Moore how many would bike from the morning breakfast, at least a dozen Kentuckians raised their hands.

More from Denver coming shortly on PolitickerKY.com.

DENVER – Gov. Steve Beshear (D-Lexington) arrived in Denver yesterday in time to hear U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton’s (D-N.Y.) speech before the Democratic National Convention in which she advocated for presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama (D-Ill.).

Although Kentucky went heavily for Clinton during the May 20 primary -- making the constitution of the state’s delegation lean toward Clinton -- Beshear says the state’s Democratic delegates will be ready to support Obama’s candidacy in the general election.

“This delegation is going to be unified for Obama this fall,” Beshear told PolitickerKY.com. “We had a hard-fought contest in Kentucky like we did all across the country and people feel very passionate about their candidates, but everybody I think is ready to come together now and get behind our ticket in the fall and really go after this election and push him across the finish line.”

Aside from rallying the delegation for the party’s nominee, Beshear said the convention gave key Democrats the chance to get excited about other Kentucky races.

DENVER -- As more of Kentucky's prominent elected Democratic leaders arrived in Denver for their party's national convention today, the line-up of speakers at the delegation breakfast was bolstered - and then supplemented by some special guests.

This morning, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean made a surprise appearance to kick off the line-up. He spoke for nearly 15 minutes on campaign strategy and the prospects for Kentucky Democrats.

Dean was followed by Washington D.C.'s "shadow Senator" Michael Brown, who spoke to assembled delegates about his hometown's lack of official Congressional representation.

U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler (D-Versailles) then took the podium for remarks in which he announced his support of Democratic Senate candidate Bruce Lunsford (D-Louisville), who later closed the morning speaking program.

Chandler was followed by delegate Ken Koch, a labor organizer. Koch introduced United Mine Workers of America President Cecil Roberts, who delivered a fiery speech slamming Republicans and the current nationwide advertising campaign targeting Democrats for their support of the Employee Free Choice Act.

DENVER -- Governor Steve Beshear (D-Lexington) is scheduled to arrive in Denver today to attend the Democratic National Convention.

Beshear - a Kentucky superdelegate - will be in the Pepsi Center with the Kentucky delegation this afternoon and attend delegation breakfasts on Wednesday and Thursday.

Beshear was not present for the first day of the convention, having held a press conference in Frankfort. 

DENVER -- The whirlwind of activity surrounding the Democratic National Convention will find Kentucky's delegation all over Denver today, with events capped off by a party jointly hosted by those from the Bluegrass state, Ohio, and Alabama.

Delegates started the day this morning with their daily breakfast at their downtown Denver hotel.

Keynoting today's meeting was U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth, who blasted the Bush administration as a galvanizing force to unify Democrats across the nation.

Kentucky Democratic Party chair Jennifer Moore emceed the event and announced that, during each day's breakfast, she would highlight a different set of races. Today she spoke about Kentucky's state Senate races.

Much of the Kentucky Democratic delegation was also in attendance, including Attorney General Jack Conway (D-Louisville), Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo (D-Hazard), Louisville attorney and Obama fundraiser Matthew Barzun, former party chairs Terry McBrayer and Jerry Lundergan, state Auditor Crit Luallen (D-Frankfort), and several Louisville metro council members.