37th Districts vote for Democrats Clark, Weston win Senate, House seats Senate election ends long dispute By Joseph Gerth and Sheldon S. Shafer, The Courier-Journal, February 15, 2006 It took two elections and a yearlong court fight, but residents of Jefferson County's 37th Senate District finally have a representative in Frankfort. Former Rep. Perry Clark will be the 37th District's new state senator, and former Metro Council member Ron Weston will replace him in the state House. With 100 percent of the vote counted, Clark won by more than 900 votes over political newcomer Debbie Peden in the Senate race. The special election became necessary after the state Supreme Court ruled that Republican Dana Seum Stephenson wasn't qualified to serve after getting the most votes in the 2004 general election. Weston won by more than 1,400 votes over Republican Carolee Allen in the race for the 37th House District seat, which Clark vacated to run for Senate. Voter turnout in both races was roughly 20 percent. Clark and Weston are expected to be seated in Frankfort later this week. Democrat Ben Abell said he voted for Clark because "I've voted Democratic all my life, and he's a union man." He said Republican Gov. Ernie Fletcher is trying to weaken labor's political strength by proposing a state law that would allow people to work in union shops without paying union dues or fees. Clark, who will serve the remainder of the four-year term that ends in 2008, said he won because voters rejected what he called the Republican Party's "negative campaign using smear tactics" against him. "A lot of it is misinterpretation, a lot of it is distortion, and some of it is outright lies," he said. "I have no animosity against Debbie Peden. This was all the Republican machine." Peden said she believed Clark won in part because of the support he received from labor unions and also because of the divisive battle between Stephenson and Democrat Virginia Woodward over the Senate seat. "I can't point at one specific thing," she said. Weston, who has been on the Metro Council since Jefferson County and Louisville merged and was the council's first president, said the House election illustrated that "the people in the South End showed they want to make sure they get their fair share" of state aid from Frankfort. Weston and Allen will face off again in November for a full two-year term for the 37th House District seat. Despite his big win, Weston said he wouldn't take his race against Allen lightly. Trailing by a 2-1 margin with nearly half the precincts left to count, Allen congratulated Weston and said that his win was "not because he outworked me. I walked every day and had a great group of people helping me." Senate election Democratic leaders chose Clark as their 37th Senate District candidate because of his winning track record in southern Jefferson County, where voters liked his brand of libertarian politics and his support of organized labor. Even so, his selection angered some Democrats who thought Woodward earned the right to run in the special election. It cost him the vote of Ellie Eichler, a registered Democrat who voted for Peden in part because she was "very, very disgusted" that Woodward didn't get to run. During the campaign, Republicans used Clark's experience -- and a list of votes and positions they characterized as "bizarre" -- in an effort to convince voters that he was out of the mainstream. One radio spot recounted several of his votes -- including his vote against a law that would have prohibited most children under the age of 16 from marrying. A Republican Party mailer showed a black-and-white photo of a heavily bearded mountain man with the question: "Would you vote to allow this man to marry your 12 year old daughter?" Clark said he voted against the law because the problem wasn't widespread and because legislators couldn't know all the dynamics inside families. Clark responded with ads accusing Peden of lying about her record and calling her Gov. Ernie Fletcher's handpicked candidate, claiming she would be his puppet in Frankfort. Among her "lies," Clark said she claimed to have been a teacher at Iroquois High School in 2003 when she was not and that she erroneously claimed she is a current member of the Jefferson County Teachers Association. Her campaign said they were simple mistakes. Republican consultant Ted Jackson said that the heavily Democratic district made for a difficult race for any Republican and that Stephenson was able to win in 2004 in part because of the popularity of her father, Sen. Dan Seum. He added: "The current situation in Frankfort was not a help to Peden in the race." House election In the 37th District House race, Allen and Weston were competing to fill the remaining year left when Clark resigned to run for the Senate. The Allen-Weston campaign was tame compared with the flamboyant Senate race. Allen said she spent more than $25,000 on the race, and Weston spent about $40,000. "All in all, it was pretty clean," Weston said. It was the first try for office by Allen, a former aide to then-Judge-Executive Rebecca Jackson and a former marketing official at the Louisville-Jefferson County Riverport Authority. She promoted her credentials and her Christian values. She said any arena should be built at the fairgrounds, not downtown, and opposed a smoking ban and the fairness ordinance on gay rights -- all positions contrary to Weston's. Weston's support of the smoking ban cost him the vote of registered Democrat Don Simmon. "I believe in the right of a business to have smoking," he said. Weston emphasized his support for labor and the need for the South End to receive its fair share of state assistance. He said he would work to bring jobs to the area and to improve education and funding for senior-citizens programs. Weston plans to resign from the Metro Council in the next day or two. The council will then select a replacement.