Mary Potter
Thursday, August 4, 2016 11:50 am
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(Clinton, KY) - The line up of speakers this year is a march of candidates with R behind their names. From Governor Bevin who will repeat his performance from last year of reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and that's all to Senator Mitch McConnell to the highlight of the day Rand Paul vs. the lone high profile Democrat Lexington Mayor Jim Gray, this year's picnic promises to be a celebration of all things Republican.
Republican constitutional officers Treasurer Allison Ball and Auditor Mike and Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles will all be speaking. Former Ag Commissioner James Comer will face Democrat Sam Gaskins in the race to fill First US House District Ed Whitfield's seat.
High profile Democrats like Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes and locked-in-mortal-combat-with-the-Governor Attorney General Andy Beshear are passing up a chance to be heckled and hooted at. Grimes told CN|2 this morning that she is passing up the event this year to spend more time with her husband who's leaving on an extended trip.
The lone local Dem name on this year's speaking roster is candidate for Graves' County's House #2 Jesse Wright who is seeking to unseat Republican Representative Richard Heath.
Kentucky Senator Ralph Alvarado who spoke at the GOP national convention will speak on behalf of presidential candidate Donald Trump. Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson will have James W. Wallace speaking on his behalf. At this writing, political stump speak managers Mark and Lori Wilson haven't found a speaker for Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
UPDATE: Late Thursday, it was announced that former North Carolina Senator Kay Hagan would speak on behalf of Secretary Clinton.
Picnic organizers said recently there will be increased security at the Picnic in light of recent violence.
This year's Picnic is shaping up to be a quiet one on the Dem side and a victory dance for the GOP.
The program begins at 2:00 in the Pavilion on the grounds of St. Jerome Parish in the center of Fancy Farm, a small predominantly Catholic community in Graves County. KET will broadcast the speeches live as they have in past years.