Former Kentucky Gov. Julian Carroll dead at 92
Former Kentucky Gov. Julian Carroll, who led efforts to improve public schools and modernize the state’s judicial system in the 1970s — and who later rekindled his political career as a state legislator — died Sunday, his family said. He was 92. Carroll ascended to the governorship during an era when Bluegrass State governors still dominated the legislative agenda, enabling him to shape a wide spectrum of Kentucky policies. But his administration later became tainted by a kickback scandal that engulfed a former state Democratic Party chairman. Carroll, a Democrat, served as governor from 1974 to 1979 and made a successful comeback in 2004 when he was elected as a state senator. KENTUCKY GOV. BESHEAR URGES FUTURE ADOPTION OF DISASTER RELIEF MODEL TO AVOID DELAYS “As a family, it is with the heaviest of hearts that we grieve the loss of our beloved father, grandfather and great-grandfather,” his family said in a statement. “His steadfast faith and positive outlook on life … and constant love for his family and his giving heart and warm embrace will forever be missed.” Kentucky’s current Democratic governor, Andy Beshear, said in a social media post that Carroll “dedicated his career to public service. For decades he worked to support public education and those he represented in Frankfort.” In his tribute to Carroll, Kentucky Senate President Robert Stivers, a Republican, said that “few will have a career as distinguished as his.” Kentucky House Speaker David Osborne, also a Republican, offered “deepest sympathies” to Carroll’s family and noted the former governor’s decades long political life. “May his family find comfort in that service,” Osborne said in a statement. Carroll served five terms in the Kentucky House, including a stint as House speaker from 1968 to 1970. He was elected lieutenant governor in 1971 and ascended to the governorship in December 1974 when Gov. Wendell Ford resigned to take a seat in the U.S. Senate. Running a year later as an incumbent, a rarity in a time when Kentucky governors were barred from succeeding themselves, Carroll easily won election to a full term of his own. He governed during a time of prosperity. An oil embargo by Arab countries triggered a boom in the coal industry, and Carroll’s administration was awash in money from the coal severance tax. Carroll led the push to eliminate the private bail bond system and the state invested heavily in teacher salaries and provided free textbooks. He established a School Building Authority to help poor school districts build new schools. Vocational and special education systems were also bolstered. The state parks systems expanded under his leadership, too, and Kentucky strengthened fire-safety laws following the deadly blaze that tore through the Beverly Hills Supper Club in northern Kentucky. Carroll took on a national leadership role as chairman of the National Governors Association. But his administration was scarred by a federal grand jury investigation after he left office. The investigation led to the indictment of the former chairman of the Kentucky Democratic Party, Howard “Sonny” Hunt, on 22 counts for his alleged participation in a fraud scheme involving workers compensation insurance. Hunt pleaded guilty and served time in prison. Carroll was never charged. JUANITA CASTRO, ANTI-COMMUNIST YOUNGER SISTER OF CUBA’S FIDEL AND RAÚL, DEAD AT 90 After leaving office in 1979, Carroll opened a law practice. He attempted a comeback in 1987 but finished far behind in the crowded Democratic gubernatorial primary. A few decades later, in 2004, he won a seat in the Kentucky Senate, where he served until 2020. His booming voice became a staple during debates. Julian Morton Carroll, a native of McCracken County in western Kentucky, was born on April 16, 1931, the third of 11 children born to Elvie Buster and Eva Heady Carroll. He served as an Air Force attorney for three years after graduating from the University of Kentucky law school in 1956. In 1960, Carroll led a a public referendum campaign to allow the Tennessee Valley Authority to provide electricity to McCracken County. The referendum, which led to lower electric costs, passed overwhelmingly, a success that set the stage for Carroll’s long political career. His wife, Charlann Harting Carroll, died in 2014 at the age of 81 after more than 60 years of marriage. Funeral arrangements for the former governor were pending, his family said.
Trump holds massive lead in Iowa 5 weeks from caucuses that kick off GOP race: poll
Former President Trump is expanding his already formidable lead in the state that leads off the Republican presidential nominating calendar, according to a new and highly reputable poll. The former president stands at 51% support among those likely to take part in Iowa’s Republican presidential caucuses, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis a distant second at 19%, and former ambassador to the United Nations and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley at 16%, according to the latest NBC News/Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll. The survey, conducted Dec. 2-7, was released on Monday, with five weeks to go until the Jan. 15 Iowa caucuses. Trump’s lead over the rest of the field of 2024 GOP nomination rivals – which has expanded by five points since October – is the largest recorded so close to a competitive Republican caucus in the history of the survey, which is considered by many to be the gold standard of Iowa caucus polling. WAS THE REAL WINNER SO FAR IN THE REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES THE GUY WHO DIDN’T SHOW UP? J. Ann Selzer, the pollster who has conducted the survey for the past three decades, pointed to the recent winnowing of the once large Republican presidential field and noted that “the field may have shrunk, but it may have made Donald Trump even stronger. I would call his lead commanding at this point.” Trump is aiming for a big victory next month in the caucuses to try and bring the nomination race to an early conclusion, so he can focus on a rematch with President Biden, who defeated him in the 2020 election. TRUMP CAMPAIGN PREVIEWS ‘EXTREMELY AGRESSIVE’ PUSH IN IOWA Trump’s large double-digit lead in the survey is fueled in part by strong support of evangelical voters – who enjoy outsized influence in Iowa Republican politics – and likely first-time caucus goers. Additionally, nearly three-quarters of Iowa Republicans who believe Trump can defeat Biden in next year’s general election – despite the former president’s numerous legal challenges – back Trump. Trump made history earlier this year as the first former or current president to be indicted for a crime, but his four indictments – including in federal court in Washington, D.C., and in Fulton County court in Georgia on charges he tried to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss – have only fueled his support among Republican voters. The new poll in Iowa is also the latest to suggest that Trump supporters are more enthusiastic and committed to support their candidate than those backing the former president’s GOP rivals. As Fox News first reported last week, the Trump campaign said it was shifting into a higher gear in the final weeks leading up to the Iowa caucuses. “We have an extremely aggressive operation and an extremely aggressive schedule,” Trump campaign senior adviser Chris LaCivita told Fox News Digital. LaCivita previewed that the Trump campaign is planning a slew of Iowa visits not only from the former president, but also from “dozens of surrogates that are going to be storming the state campaigning… in every venue that has people.” He said there were “close to 1,500-1,600 precinct captains throughout the state that, literally, their sole job is to run each individual caucus that takes place and making sure that the list of the targeted voters supporting President Trump show up.” Trump’s campaign said it was not taking anything for granted. Looking ahead to the final stretch leading up to the caucuses, LaCivita said “our only concern is complacency.” DeSantis, meanwhile, earlier this month fulfilled his goal of stopping in all of Iowa’s 99 counties. He has repeatedly been joined on the campaign trail in the Hawkeye State by popular Iowa Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds, who endorsed him in early November. Also backing DeSantis was Bob Vander Plaats, president and CEO of The Family Leader, an influential social conservative organization in the state. DeSantis has repeatedly vowed he will pull off an upset by winning Iowa. DESANTIS STOPS IN ALL OF IOWA’S 99 COUNTIES, BUT WILL IT HELP HIM CLOSE THE GAP WITH TRUMP? Haley, who has enjoyed momentum in the polls in recent months, thanks in part to well-received performances in the first three GOP presidential primary debates, has leapfrogged DeSantis for second place in New Hampshire, which holds the first primary and votes second in the Republican nominating schedule, and her home state, which holds the first southern contest. She also aims to make a fight of it in Iowa, where the new poll is the latest to suggest she is close to pulling even with DeSantis for second place. Two weeks ago, Haley landed the backing of Americans for Prosperity Action, the political wing of the influential and deep-pocketed fiscally conservative network founded by the billionaire Koch Brothers. AFP Action has pledged to spend tens of millions of dollars and mobilize its formidable grassroots operation to boost Haley and help push the Republican Party past Trump. The new NBC News/Des Moines Register/Mediacom survey indicates multimillionaire biotech entrepreneur and first time candidate Vivek Ramaswamy at 5% support in Iowa. Ramaswamy, who has spent millions of his own money on his campaign, has predicted that he will pull off a “surprise” in Iowa, where he has spent plenty of time reaching out to voters. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who is making his second bid for the White House, stands at 4% support in the poll. However, Christie has not campaigned in the Hawkeye State, as he concentrates most of his time and resources in New Hampshire. The poll also indicates former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson at 1%. Hutchinson remains in the 2024 race even after failing to make the stage at the past three Republican presidential nomination debates. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
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Key McConnell ally makes endorsement in crucial swing state race that could flip Senate red
EXCLUSIVE: A key ally of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has decided which candidate he will support in one crucial swing state race that could ultimately determine whether Republicans win back control of the Senate in 2024. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., announced Monday his endorsement of Republican Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake, a conservative firebrand and former 2022 gubernatorial candidate, in her bid to flip the seat currently held by independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, a former Democrat. “Kari Lake is the fighter Arizona needs to secure the border, unleash American Energy Independence, and lower the cost of living. Joe Biden’s policies have been a disaster for Arizona and Kari Lake will stand up to the Biden agenda and put Arizonans first. Let’s send Kari to the Senate and take back the majority,” Cotton said in a statement to Fox News Digital. KARI LAKE OFFERS SOLUTION TO REPUBLICAN ELECTION LOSSES, PREDICTS GOP VOTERS WILL ‘SHOW UP’ FOR ONE MAJOR NAME IN 2024 “I am grateful for the endorsement of Sen. Cotton, someone who served our country honorably in the military and has been a conservative warrior in the Senate. I look forward to working with Sen. Cotton to secure our border and get America back on track from Joe Biden and Chuck Schumer’s far-left agenda,” Lake told Fox. The race is expected to be one of the most closely watched of the 2024 election cycle as Republicans aim for a majority in Congress’ upper chamber, which Democrats currently control by a slim 51-49 margin with the support of Sinema and her fellow independents, Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Angus King of Maine. With Cotton’s backing, Lake has secured the support of two top senators, the other being Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., as well as House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik of New York and a number of other House Republicans. She also has the backing of former President Trump, who endorsed her via video during her campaign launch in October, and multiple state and local officials in Arizona and across the country. 2024 WHITE HOUSE HOPEFULS SHRED DOJ, ‘DEEP STATE’ OVER TIMING OF HUNTER BIDEN INDICTMENT: ‘SLOW-WALKED’ Lake’s only major challenger in the race for the Republican nomination so far is Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb. Whichever Republican wins the nomination will likely face Phoenix-area Democrat Rep. Ruben Gallego in the general election. Sinema has not yet said whether she will run for reelection. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
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