A Kentucky Republican voted his conscience and paid dearly for it | Opinion

Rep. Killian Timoney is his own worst critic and does not spare himself when it comes to his humiliating 45th House District loss to Liberty candidate Thomas Jefferson on Tuesday night.

“I did not work as hard as he did,” the Nicholasville Republican said Wednesday morning.

Timoney has a full-time job, three children and aging parents, plus, there’s a part-time job in Frankfort that did not end in April.

“That sounds like I’m making excuses, but he had the time to start knocking on doors in October and he (Jefferson) was relentless with it,” he said.

In many ways, Timoney has always been vulnerable because he’s a Republican who takes moderate, complicated stances. For example, he works for Fayette County Schools, and did not support the amendment to fund private schools that will be on the ballot in November.

With last year’s no vote on SB 150, banning healthcare for transgender children, he put the target on his own back.

“I would do it again,” he said. “We don’t know enough about the trans issue to give a definitive answer, and if we don’t know the answer we should tread cautiously.”

So can any politicians, especially Republicans, vote their conscience anymore?

There’s a micro and macro answer to that. The micro answer includes a very low turnout primary in which the most energized voters rewarded the most radical candidate.

“Extremism feeds on apathy,” said Republican consultant Tres Watson. ”When you have 12 percent turnout, guess who turns out?”

The GOP may pay a price. Democrat Adam Moore is well-funded now and will be more in the future if there’s a sense the 45th District — which voted overwhelmingly for Gov. Andy Beshear — could flip from Republican to Democrat.

The larger issue is one of the ways that politics work today. Timoney was well-funded by “establishment” Republican groups, but Jefferson had the backing of such special interest groups as the Family Foundation and the Jessamine County Republican Party.

“The Family Foundation has made no bones about not wanting me in the General Assembly ever,” Timoney said. ”The special interest groups are one of the dangers to America —they are the ones who get to take over the definition of who a person is, and that’s problematic.”

You likely have heard of the Kentucky Family Foundation, a nonprofit religious organization that says: “The Family Foundation stands for Kentucky families and the Biblical values that make them strong by advocating for God-honoring public policy in our Commonwealth.”

Another mailer for example, called Timoney a “groomer” for his vote on SB 150, which apparently negates his conservative stances on lower taxes and reproductive rights.

As expertly explained by reporter Austin Horn, the Kentucky GOP is already grappling with power dynamics in Frankfort, in which more extremist radical groups are pushing more establishment Republicans in directions they may not wish to go.

But it’s making it untenable for politicians and candidates who don’t wish to toe the party line.

Former Rep. Adam Koenig and two other high profile Republicans from Northern Kentucky lost to Liberty candidates; Sen. Whitney Westerfield, R-Crofton, is stepping down from his seat partly, he said, because the situation in Frankfort is too ugly and difficult.

As I write, Rep. Kim Moser, R-Taylor Mill, who sponsored probably the best bill of the session on maternal mortality, is still in a race too close to call. Sen. Adrienne Southworth, R-Lawrenceburg, whose kooky election denial should have made her a favorite with the Liberty wing, lost decisively to two more even more conservative candidates still battling it out on Wednesday.

The only Kentucky politician who seems to effectively marry his more nuanced views to votes is Secretary of State Michael Adams, but he is in the second of two terms, and it’s not clear what he will be able to do next in the current environment.

The radical notion of more voting for more people may be too much.

For example, it didn’t used to be politically dangerous to say you support public schools. “That really worries me,” said education advocate Nema Brewer. “Public education should not be a partisan issue.”

Koenig said that when he lost two years ago, a fellow legislator told him for 16 years, he did it his way. He told Timoney the same story on Tuesday night.

“That was the best compliment, but that’s not okay anymore,” Koenig said. “Everyone has the chance to cave or vote their conscience, and I guess it now depends on what your conscience says.”

Timoney said he doesn’t know what his political future holds, but he will spend the remainder of the year educating people on dark money, special interest groups and misinformation.

“I think voters are being manipulated, and I want to become a voice of reason,” he said.

“If I was back in the classroom teaching government about how a bill becomes law, it would be a very different lesson plan these days.”