Author

Tom Loftus

Tom Loftus

Tom Loftus is a native of Cincinnati and a graduate of The Ohio State University. His long career in Kentucky journalism includes four years as Frankfort bureau chief for The Kentucky Post and 32 years as Frankfort bureau chief for The Courier Journal. He is a member of the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame and a freelance reporter for the Kentucky Lantern.

Beshear continues to far outraise Cameron in race for Kentucky governor

By: - October 26, 2023

FRANKFORT — The final campaign finance reports filed before Election Day show Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s general election committee has raised and spent far more than four times the amount of money that has been raised and spent by his Republican challenger, Attorney General Daniel Cameron. Reports filed by the two campaigns? with the Kentucky […]

Kelly and Joe Craft give the max to Trump’s rivals in GOP field for president

By: - October 25, 2023

FRANKFORT — Kelly Craft, who failed to secure Donald Trump’s endorsement in last May’s Republican primary for Kentucky governor, has donated to six Republican candidates for president in recent months. None of the six is Donald Trump. Reports filed with the Federal Election Commission show that since June 26 Kelly Craft and her husband Joe […]

Money keeps rolling in for Beshear

By: - October 12, 2023

FRANKFORT — Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s reelection campaign raised nearly $1.5 million in the past month compared to about $530,000 raised by the campaign of his opponent, Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron. Disclosure reports filed by the two campaigns late Wednesday with the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance continue to show the Beshear campaign with […]

Boeing PAC joins fleet of corporate givers to Kentucky Republican Party building fund

By: - October 3, 2023

FRANKFORT — Add aerospace giant Boeing to the list of companies with vital lobbying interests in Washington to make a big contribution to renovate and expand the Republican Party of Kentucky’s headquarters — a building that stands a few blocks from the Kentucky Capitol and is named in honor of U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch […]

Beshear far outraises Cameron. But that’s only part of the money story.

By: - September 13, 2023

FRANKFORT – Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s campaign outraised Republican challenger Daniel Cameron by more than double the amount of money in the first phase of Kentucky’s general election.? Beshear raised nearly $5.8 million since the primary election in May compared to about $2.35 million raised by Cameron, according to reports filed Tuesday with the Kentucky […]

Wall Street billionaire is putting millions into Kentucky’s race for governor

By: - August 21, 2023

FRANKFORT – A Wall Street billionaire and crusader for charter schools is bankrolling media attacks on Democratic incumbent Andy Beshear in Kentucky’s race for governor. Jeff Yass, an options trader based in the Philadelphia suburbs, has provided the overwhelming majority of the money to two conservative super PACs that are behind a new multimillion dollar […]

Weddles found a way to fund Beshear even as campaign contributions were returned

By: - August 1, 2023

FRANKFORT – As the Kentucky Democratic Party and Gov. Andy Beshear’s campaign were refunding the excess campaign contributions of London Mayor Randall Weddle last spring, Mayor Weddle and his wife found a different avenue for making additional donations to boost Beshear’s reelection chances. Weddle, a Republican, and his wife Victoria contributed $75,000 to the Democratic […]

Corporate dollars keep pouring into Republican Party of Kentucky building fund

By: - July 24, 2023

FRANKFORT, KY – The $2.65 million donated by some of the nation’s largest corporations to renovate the Republican Party of Kentucky headquarters — the “Mitch McConnell Building” — was raised by the longtime chief fundraising consultant of Sen. Mitch McConnell himself. Recent reports filed by the Republican Party of Kentucky (RPK) Building Fund with the […]

Cameron’s office asks FBI to investigate $202K refunds from Beshear’s campaign, Kentucky Dems

By: - June 22, 2023

Editor’s note: This story was updated Thursday afternoon with more information. FRANKFORT – The office of Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron has asked the FBI to investigate circumstances surrounding controversial political contributions made to the reelection campaign of Gov. Andy Beshear and the Kentucky Democratic Party last December. On Tuesday, Beshear’s campaign manager?announced that the […]

Beshear campaign, Kentucky Democratic Party return $202,000 linked to London mayor

By: - June 20, 2023

Editor’s note: This story was updated Tuesday evening with additional responses. The Andy Beshear for Governor campaign and Kentucky Democratic Party have refunded $202,000 in what they determined to be excess political contributions – money originally reported by the campaign and party as donations from numerous members of the family of London Mayor Randall Weddle […]

London, Ky., receives nearly $1.4M state grant. Mayor’s family donors to Beshear, Democratic Party

By: - May 19, 2023

FRANKFORT – London Mayor Randall Weddle, whose family and associates contributed more than $300,000 to the Kentucky Democratic Party and Gov. Andy Beshear’s re-election campaign, traveled to the State Capitol on Thursday to join Beshear in announcing a nearly $1.4 million grant to the City of London to pay for new sidewalks along Main Street […]

Craft has loaned her campaign $7 million, husband’s trust put $1.5 million into super PAC

By: - April 19, 2023

Seven immediate takeaways from campaign finance reports filed by candidates for Kentucky governor: 1. Republican Kelly Craft is paying for her own campaign, and appears to be prepared to pay whatever it takes. So far she has loaned a stunning $7 million to her campaign. A trust of her husband Joe Craft has given $1.5 […]