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House Speaker Says McConnell is Calling Democrats

By Kevin Willis and Dan Modlin

Bowling Green, KY – The Speaker of the Kentucky House says Republican
U-S Senator Mitch McConnell has been calling
Kentucky Democrats in the House, asking them to switch parties.
Speaker Jody Richards, a Democrat from Bowling Green,
says some Democrats in the House have told him that
Senator McConnell has placed calls to them, urging
them to leave their political party. Richards says he
has talked with his fellow Democrats and doesn't
expect any to leave the party.

However, Western's Public Radio has contacted the
office of Senator McConnell in Washington. A statement
issued by the Senator stresses that McConnell "has not
placed a single call to a single Democrat in Kentucky's
House." The statement goes on to declare that
McConnell doesn't rule out doing so in the future, and
he says all are welcome to join the Republican Party.

On Wednesday, Republican U-S Senator Jim Bunning
said he wouldn't be surprised if some Democrats in the
General Assembly decided to switch parties.