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Johnathan Masters

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Johnathan Masters
Image of Johnathan Masters

Democratic Party

Education

High school

Gallatin County High School, 2000

Bachelor's

Xavier University

Johnathan Masters was a Democratic candidate for Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky in the 2015 election. He filed his candidacy on January 27, 2015, and ran with gubernatorial candidate Geoff Young. Young and Masters were defeated by Jack Conway and Sannie Overly in the primary election held on May 19, 2015.[1][2]

Biography

Email editor@ballotpedia.org to notify us of updates to this biography.

Education

  • Graduate, Gallatin County High School (2000)
  • Bachelor's degrees, Xavier University and the University of Louisville (2012)[3]

Career

Masters previously worked as a community organizer for Working America, AFL-CIO. He also served as a campaign coordinator for Ralph Nader's 2008 presidential campaign. In 2010, Masters ran for state representative but lost in the primary to incumbent Democrat Royce Adams.[3]

Elections

2015

See also: Kentucky gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2015

Seven state executive offices in Kentucky were up for election in 2015. The general election was held on November 3, 2015, following a primary election on May 19, 2015. The following sections summarize filed candidates running for each state executive office on the ballot:

Governor/Lieutenant Governor
Incumbents Steve Beshear (D) and Crit Luallen (D) were not running for re-election.

Attorney General
Incumbent Jack Conway (D) was seeking election as governor.

Secretary of State

Auditor

Commissioner of Agriculture
Incumbent James Comer Jr. (R) ran for election as governor.

Treasurer
Incumbent Todd Hollenbach (D) was term-limited.


Results

Primary

Geoff Young and Masters ran on a dual ticket for Kentucky Governor and Kentucky Lieutenant Governor, but were defeated by Jack Conway and Sannie Overly in the primary on May 19, 2015.[1]

Governor and Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky Democratic Primary, 2015
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.pngJack Conway/Sannie Overly 78.8% 140,627
Geoff Young/Johnathan Masters 21.2% 37,887
Total Votes 178,514
Election results via Kentucky State Board of Elections.
General

Republican Matt Bevin and his running mate, Jenean M. Hampton, defeated Attorney General Jack Conway and independent Drew Curtis.[4]

Governor and Lieutenant Governor, 2015
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.pngMatt Bevin/Jenean M. Hampton 52.5% 511,771
     Democrat Jack Conway/Sannie Overly 43.8% 426,827
     Independent Drew Curtis/Heather Curtis 3.7% 35,627
Total Votes 974,225
Election results via Kentucky Secretary of State

Race background

General Election

Jack Conway and his running mate Sannie Overly won the Democratic Primary. They faced Matt Bevin and his running mate Jenean Hampton in the November general election, along with independent candidate Drew Curtis and his running mate Heather Curtis, and write-in candidate Blackii Whyte and his running mate Philip Jacobs.

Major issues

In a state where President Obama was considered very unpopular, Mark Bevin and other GOP actors worked to fund ads that sought to tie Jack Conway to President Obama and the Affordable Care Act.[5]

At the same time, Jack Conway and his allies aired ads criticizing Mark Bevin for refusing to release his tax records until after the election was over.[6][7]

Campaign finance

The fundraising reports covering October 3 through October 19, 2015, showed that Jack Conway had outspent Matt Bevin by a four-to-one margin, $2.4 million to just $600,000. In the first 17 days following his previous filing with the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance, Conway had spent $2.3 million on Kentucky airwaves Bevin also devoted a large percentage--87 percent--of his spending to television.[8]

Two weeks before the November 3 general election, Conway reported about $800,000 cash on hand, compared to Bevin's $340,000, a more than two-to-one advantage.[8]

Conway also raised more over the 17-day period covered by the report; he raised over $900,000 to Bevin's under $300,000. Over the entirety of the general election, Conway had raised more than $5.3 million to Bevin's $1.9 million.[8]

Leading independent candidate Drew Curtis reported that he had raised about $2,000 and spent about $3,000. Curtis was in debt as of his filing, with -$500 cash on hand.[8]

Republican Primary

Contested Republican primary election results

The Republican gubernatorial primary race was too close to call on the evening of May 19, with Matt Bevin leading James Comer Jr. by only 83 votes out of more than 200,000 ballots cast. Hal Heiner conceded defeat early in the evening, but Comer, who ran second or third for much of the night, pulled close to Bevin with 99 percent of the vote counted. Comer requested a recanvass of the primary ballots to determine if the total count was accurate, but noted his support for Bevin once the recanvass confirmed the election results.[9]

The recanvassing occurred on May 28, when county election boards rechecked each machine for vote counts to ensure that numbers were not reported inaccurately. Ballots were not recounted during recanvassing. Kentucky law allowed representatives from both Comer's and Bevin's campaigns to be present as the numbers reported to the State Board of Elections were verified for accuracy. The recanvassing process ultimately confirmed Bevin's May 19 primary victory and Comer conceded defeated on May 29.[10]

Allegations of domestic violence against James Comer

On May 4, 2015, two weeks before the May 19 gubernatorial primary, the Louisville Courier-Journal received a letter written by Marilyn Thomas, a former girlfriend of Republican gubernatorial candidate James Comer. In the four-page letter to the Courier-Journal, Thomas levied allegations of physical and mental abuse she said she endured throughout the duration of her relationship with Comer, with whom she attended Western Kentucky University (WKU) in the early 1990s. Thomas claimed she and Comer dated for over two years, during which Comer "was toxic, abusive and caused me a lot of suffering. His controlling and aggressive personality alienated me from most of my family and friends at the time." Thomas and her former roommate at WKU, Wendy Curley, claimed that Comer escorted Thomas to an abortion clinic in 1991 and that she possessed paperwork that included his name as her escort. Curley maintained that Thomas never came to her regarding abuse, but she said, "I would see bruises on her wrists and stuff where she'd say, 'Oh, I ran into a table,' 'I fell,' just that kind of stuff."[11]

Comer vehemently denied physically abusing Thomas, asserting that their relationship ended amicably and that they last saw each other in 2006 in New York City, where Thomas lived.[12] Comer could not remember the exact length of their relationship, at one point estimating its length at only a few months and later saying that it lasted under a year. Comer stated in a press conference on May 5 that he was suspicious of the timing of this public declaration against him, given the impending election and his close standing in the race. Thomas never filed a police complaint against Comer and supported opposing Republican gubernatorial candidate Hal Heiner on Facebook. According to the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance, she also made a $100 contribution to his campaign. Thomas said that she felt forced into telling her story following an article regarding Comer's abusive relationship in the Lexington Herald-Leader, and allegations made by Lexington blogger Michael Adams accusing Comer of physically assaulting Thomas.[11][13]

In the year prior to the primary, Adams posted accusations against Comer on his personal blog and Tumblr account and was linked to Scott Crosbie, the husband of Republican lieutenant gubernatorial candidate KC Crosbie, who shared a ticket with Heiner. The Herald-Leader obtained email correspondence from fall 2014 between Adams and both Scott and KC Crosbie, who denied any such correspondence.[14] Adams conceded that he previously met with Mr. Crosbie regarding "a whole host of things (having to do) with Comer."[15] In a statement provided to the Herald-Leader, Heiner apologized to Comer for any role his campaign might have had in spreading the allegations:

“

These rumors are the worst type of politics...It is undignified and un-Christian and not the type of campaign I am running. I personally apologize to Jamie Comer if anyone associated with my campaign is involved. [16]

”
—Cincinnati.com (2015)[17]

PAC influence in Republican primary

Two political action committees (PACs) formed in Kentucky for the 2015 gubernatorial race with the goal of introducing more campaign dollars to a state where individual donors are limited to $1,000 contributions per candidate.[18] The Bluegrass Action Fund filed papers with the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance on March 18, with plans to support Republican Hal Heiner, who spent $4.2 million of his own money by mid-March. The PAC had ties to conservative billionaires Charles and David Koch as well as Aegis Strategic, a political consulting firm trying to identify and support electable conservatives to political offices.[19]

Another PAC, Kentuckians for Growth, Opportunity and Prosperity, planned to support state Agriculture Commissioner James Comer Jr. in his bid for the Republican gubernatorial nomination. As of March 2015, the PAC spent $22,000 on airtime for campaign ads in Bowling Green, Owensboro, Evansville, and Somerset. “We need a bold leader like James Comer, a conservative Republican with experience trimming government fat and increasing economic growth,” a male narrator says in the 30-second spot.[20][21]

Democratic Primary

Legal troubles for Johnathan Masters

Former Democratic lieutenant gubernatorial candidate Johnathan Masters faced charges in Jefferson and Breckinridge counties after altercations with school officials in 2014. Masters, who ran with gubernatorial candidate Geoff Young, was accused of verbally harassing Spalding University Associate Dean Elizabeth Lodge Rogers after the university removed him from a graduate teaching program. In an interview with The Courier-Journal, Masters did not deny contacting Rogers or producing a video criticizing the school but argued that they committed a "breach of contract" by kicking him out of school. The paper reported that Masters' voice mails to Rogers indicated that he was removed from the school due to clashes with the teaching program's administrator.[22]

On February 11, 2015, Jefferson District Judge Sean Delahanty detailed the Breckenridge County warrant during a pretrial hearing not attended by Masters. This warrant described a December 2014 altercation between Masters and Keith Haynes, a principal in Cloverport Independent School District. Masters wanted to interview students about democracy as part of a graduate project, but Haynes refused because Masters had not gone through a background check. According to the warrant, Masters used curse words and threatened violence against Haynes. Masters refuted this story and Breckinridge County officials did not confirm the warrant.[22]

Young stood behind Masters despite allegations and past charges of harassment, domestic violence and possession of drug paraphernalia. He told The Courier-Journal that Masters was more principled than Democratic candidate Jack Conway because Conway supported the 2003 Iraq War.[22]

Arrest for overdue library book
On March 12, Masters was briefly detained by a state trooper due to a misdemeanor theft charge dating back to 2004. Masters was informed of an outstanding warrant during a traffic stop for expired license tags. The charge stemmed from Masters' failure to return a library book in Kenton County, which led to a warrant for "theft by failure to make required disposition of property." Masters was held for three hours before he posted bond with an arraignment scheduled for March 30.[23] During an interview with Fox News, Masters criticized the state justice system and said that he would request a jury trial.[24]

Campaign finance

First quarter report (2015)
Comprehensive donor information for this election was collected from the state's campaign finance authority. Based on available campaign finance records, the candidates raised a total of $3,712,481 and spent a total of $5,132,368.71 during this reporting period. This information was last updated on April 24, 2015.[25]

Fourth quarter report (2014)
Comprehensive donor information for this election was collected from the state's campaign finance authority. Based on available campaign finance records, the candidates raised a total of $880,190.47 and spent a total of $545,733.73 during this reporting period. This information was last updated on February 3, 2015.[26]

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Johnathan Masters Kentucky Lieutenant Governor. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Johnathan Masters - Google News

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Kentucky State Board of Election, "Statewide results," accessed May 20, 2015
  2. ↑ Kentucky Secretary of State, "Information for Johnathan D. Masters, Candidate for Lieutenant Governor," January 27, 2015
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Candidate submission to Ballotpedia, February 7, 2015
  4. ↑ Kentucky Secretary of State, "Governor and Lieutenant Governor," accessed November 4, 2014
  5. ↑ Daily Kos, "Live Digest Aug. 31, 2015," accessed October 6, 2015
  6. ↑ Kevin Wheatley, CN2 News, "Jack Conway launches first negative nominee ad, hammering Matt Bevin over taxes," accessed October 6, 2015
  7. ↑ Nick Storm, cn|2, "Pro-Jack Conway super PAC ad sharpens focus on Matt Bevin's refusal to release tax returns," accessed October 6, 2015
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Kevin Wheatley, cn|2, "Conway holds financial edge on Bevin after dumping $2.3M on TV in latest campaign finance reporting period," October 27, 2015
  9. ↑ The Courier-Journal, "Bevin's slim lead challenged by Comer," May 19, 2015
  10. ↑ The New York Times, "Matt Bevin Prevails as James Comer Conceded Kentucky Governor Primary," May 29, 2015
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 The Louisville Courier-Journal, "College girlfriend says James Comer abused her," May 5, 2015
  12. ↑ Cincinatti.com, "Ky. candidate Comer denies abusing college girlfriend," May 6, 2015
  13. ↑ Page One Kentucky, "Dropping bombs on Jamie Comer," May 1, 2015
  14. ↑ Daily Independent, "Comer accused in newspaper report," May 4, 2015
  15. ↑ Kentucky.com, "Exclusive: Heiner apologizes to Comer over campaign's communication with controversial blogger," April 29, 2015
  16. ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  17. ↑ Cincinnati.com, "GOP governor race gets nasty," May 3, 2015
  18. ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "State Limits on Contributions to Candidates," updated January 20, 2010
  19. ↑ The Courier-Journal, "Koch brothers-related PAC in Kentucky gov race," March 28, 2015
  20. ↑ The Courier-Journal, "Wealthy businessman funding Comer PAC," April 3, 2015
  21. ↑ CN2, "Pro-Comer PAC urging voters to get behind its candidate in new TV spot," April 3, 2015
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 The Courier-Journal, "Lt. gov. candidate faces charges over outbursts," February 15, 2015
  23. ↑ Huffington Post, "Johnathan Masters, Kentucky Lt. Gov. Candidate, Arrested ... For An Overdue Library Book?" March 13, 2015
  24. ↑ Fox News, "Kentucky candidate says he was arrested for overdue library book," March 12, 2015
  25. ↑ Kentucky Registry of Election Finance, "Candidate Search Results," accessed April 24, 2015
  26. ↑ Kentucky Registry of Election Finance, "Candidate Search Results," accessed February 3, 2015
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