McConnell remains the Republican’s Minority leader in the 100 member Senate. But many fellow members won’t be returning next week. Republicans lost at least 5 seats of the 49 that they currently occupy. Four races are still undecided.
In the Presidential race, Kentucky gave McCain 1,043,264 votes and President-elect Obama 746,510 votes, which came to 57 percent, compared to Obama’s 41 percent of the vote.
Despite the loss for Democrats in Ky., Lunsford was optimistic. “We started this race as a 50 to 1 shot and there weren’t many people who gave us a chance,” said Lunsford in remarks he prepared for an Election night address. ”But together, we made it race down the stretch and made Mitch McConnell spend every dime of that $20 million in special interest money. In doing so, we all helped contribute to several other victories around the country… that we should be proud of.“
The race was extremely tight, right up until all precincts had reported in their tallies. McConnell received 945,067 votes, which was 53 percent of the vote, and Lunsford got a close 840,286 votes, making up 47 percent of the vote.
Lunsford has some advice for his former opponent.
“I urge Senator McConnell to work hand in hand with the Democratic majority in the U.S. Senate and the Obama Administration to help correct the problems brought on by the past eight years,” said Lunsford. “This is not a time for partisanship or obstructionism. This is a time for our elected officials to unite and work together to help people who are hurting.”
He continued by asking McConnell to take the Republican Party in a different direction. “These are serious challenges and I urge Senator McConnell to go outside the box. To listen to the more than the hundreds of thousands of Kentuckians who demanded change. And to use the leadership and clout he ran on to steer the Republican Party in a different direction… One that realizes we build our economy from the bottom up, not the top down.”
Lunsford made several last minute stops near the end of his campaign, venturing to Hazard and Middlesboro. Even though he now has a solid losing record as a politician, (Lunsford lost his 2003 bid to be nominated to be the Governor elect, and his 2007 gubernatorial campaign) Lunsford will still be on the scene.
“As for me, I will remain active and involved in projects to further the agenda of change that I campaigned on and to help rebuild our economy from the bottom up,” said Lunsford. “This has been the journey of my lifetime.”
Stephen Woodward is a Staff Writer for the Middlesboro Daily News. He may be contacted at swoodward@middlesborodailynews.com.
Pictured above is former candidate for U.S. Senate Bruce Lunsford. Incumbent Senator Mitch McConnell defeated Lunsford in the election on Tuesday. (File photo)
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