Carter County Post: State Rep

“Primaries and general elections are very different,” Patrick Flannery said recently as he balanced campaign and career duties.

“I am pleased with the strong showing we had in Carter County, and the other candidate ran a clean race and did well in Lawrence County,” Flannery said, wearing a mask as he took a seat inside his law office in downtown Olive Hill. “It was an unusual race, given the environment we’re in.”

Meeting Voters

The primary election’s unusual circumstances, with no crowds or gatherings for a local politician to greet people and discuss their campaign, actually provided valuable lessons, Flannery said.

“The primary forced me to get accustomed to the year we’re living in and get a good feeling of how to proceed this fall,” he said, explaining he has tried to attend as many events as he could find, but ultimately relied upon meeting one family at a time.

“I do knock on doors and I do wear a mask and people are very receptive to it,” he said, chuckling at the idea of traditional “shaking hands and kissing babies” campaigning.

“The only baby I’m allowed to kiss is my nine-month old. The elbow bump is the new handshake,” he said with a smile. “I find that if you wear a mask and keep a respectful distance – we want to talk to each other.”

Concerns & Issues

Flannery said residents of House District 96, Carter and Lawrence County, have certainly shared concerns and issues they want their state representative to speak for them on.

“The things on their minds are the same things that got me into the race,” he said, citing Pro-Life and 2nd Amendment concerns at the top of the list.

“People feel the incumbent (Democrat Kathy Hinkle) has let them down on those issues with her votes and non-votes,” he said.

“A lot of people I’ve talked to said they don’t know who their state representative is. They want someone they know and have confidence will be a good representative for everyone. Someone they can talk to when they have a problem.”

“They want someone they feel can get things done. I am best positioned to get things done because there is a Republican super majority in both chambers – It’s hard for a minority, freshman legislator to get things done,” Flannery said.

“The voters don’t know her (Hinkle) and they feel like she’s AWOL. Most people would like to think there’s somebody they can talk to if they feel like there’s an issue for their state legislator. I feel people are accustomed to knowing their state legislators and knowing they can get hold of them.”

“One of the biggest concerns people have with her is that they’ve never seen her. I’ve seen her twice. I’ve only seen her once since July. By comparison, I would frequently see my competitor in the primary. Historically, we’ve had several state legislators who were highly accessible.”

Nation’s Concerns Reflected

National political races and concerns are, “reflected, without a doubt” in local households.

“The presidential race has dominated the news and locally the president is popular. Local voters are not crazy about having someone who supports Nancy Pelosi’s agenda or Bernie Sanders agenda,” Flannery said.

Ongoing rioting, violence and lawlessness are of particular concern for area residents who want “law and order and respecting police officers” as priorities for elected officials.

“People here see the left take extremes, like defunding the police, and they have a hard time wrapping their heads around what the extreme left is promoting.”

Local Roots

Flannery, a lifelong Carter County resident whose family has lived here for several generations, is a member of the West Carter High School Class of 1999, where he played football and was on the track team. He also played defensive end and offensive tackle for four years while studying at Georgetown College, before enrolling at Chase College of Law at Northern Kentucky University and graduating in 2008. He was elected to serve as County Attorney for Carter County in 2010 and served one term in that capacity.

Flannery met his wife, Keri, in 2009 and they were married in 2010.

“I was setting up my office and she was hired as a teacher at Tygart Elementary the day before school started,” he recalled, explaining they were introduced by her fellow teachers. They now have two daughters, Demi, 6, and Brynn, who was born in December.

Story by TIM PRESTON

Carter County Post

Note: Carter County Post does not endorse any political candidate and strives only to offer readers information to assist with voting decisions.

Incumbent State Representative Kathy Hinkle (House District 96 – Carter and Lawrence County) admits her frustration with limited opportunities to talk to local voters as she pursues a second term as a state legislator.

“I’ve been unable to meet with people and groups like normal,” Hinkle said, explaining she does plan to visit individual homes as well as work with a group of female legislators to get their message out to voters in Carter and Lawrence County. Campaign efforts are balanced with her role as a caretaker for her mother, as well as an aunt battling cancer.

Hinkle adds she will be happy to speak with anyone – “I’ll be anywhere.”

First Term Accomplishments

State Representative Hinkle said her first-term accomplishments have gone largely uncredited, although she is pleased with what she has been able to get done, as well as future projects.

“I am not a lifetime politician, but I have several things started and big things ahead. I’m 64 years old. I don’t want to be a lifetime politician, but if I can make a difference I want to,” she said.

Education and related issues have been among her top concerns, Hinkle said, citing two bills she sponsored last year and has refiled for consideration during an upcoming session. One of the proposals would mandate “professional time” allowing teachers designated periods for development and lesson plans, she said, and the other would allow school boards to provide health insurance for members.

“Many people serving on school boards are older and it is an elected position. Most school boards want to do that for their school board members,” Hinkle said.

She is quick to note she has not been endorsed by the KEA in Carter County, although Lawrence County’s teachers do support her for a second term.

Challenges

First-term challenges included “unburying” an action plan to relieve a potentially dangerous situation related to Louisa East Elementary in downtown Louisa. The school’s pick up and drop off caused clogging of traffic along streets where many elderly and disabled people live, she explained, as well as preventing access to the school if there were an emergency.

“They had a plan – it was an overdue project,” Hinkle said, noting she worked with Department of Transportation officials to solve the problem by creating a new path, including a one-way street, to guide drop off/pick-up traffic “down and around the school and not lined up on the street or hindering traffic,” Hinkle said.

Hinkle said efforts to bring sidewalk improvements to Grayson are another example of uncredited accomplishments. She was also able to host local school groups in Frankfort, and work on licensing concerns for Savage Farms, a local agricultural producer near the Lawrence/Carter/Boyd County border.

“Education has got to be a priority for our area,” she added.

Concerns

Hinkle said she also considers the creation of new jobs as a crucial concern for Kentucky and House District 96. She also favors research into medical marijuana for Kentuckians. Her website (https://www.hinkleforkentucky.com/) lists Hinkle’s priority issues as: Public Pensions; Education; Labor; Healthcare; Infrastructure; Family; Sanctity of Life; Guns; and Gaming.

“It’s not all fixed, but I’m working on it,” she said with a chuckle. “Have I been able to help everybody? I’ve tried. And, I keep asking. Persistence is a crucial part of this.”

Key Issues

Hinkle said her position on key issues are easy to understand.

“I’m Pro-Life from top to bottom, but I don’t think ‘Pro-Life’ is just about abortion,” she said, listing related concerns including housing, food, healthcare, jobs and education.

Even though her NRA ranking dropped as a result of one particular vote, Hinkle said she is a strong supporter of 2nd Amendment issues and has her own concealed-carry permit.

“Three law enforcement organizations asked me to not support that,” she noted.

“I 100 percent support police and firefighters,” she added.

Hinkle serves on four committees, dealing with transportation, veterans affairs, banking and insurance, and economic development.

Veterans Issues

Veterans’ concerns are also among Hinkle’s highest considerations, she said.

“Our veterans – I don’t think they’ve gotten the respect the deserve,” she said, calling up concerns including affordable housing and education. Homeless vets are often unable to get benefits they’ve earned because they can’t list a permanent address on their paperwork.

“You can’t list a homeless shelter as a residence,” Hinkle said. “It’s a spiral. No ID – no benefits and they can’t get a place to live. It’s a cycle.”

Work and Family

Hinkle, who worked for 20 years as director of Child Assault Prevention in Boyd, Lawrence, Elliott and Morgan County (along with some cases in Johnson and Morgan county) has also been a Sunday School teacher at First Baptist Louisa for 46 years, where she has enjoyed working with youth groups and the nursery program.

She and her husband, Lefe “Buddy” Hinkle, live in Lawrence County and have a daughter, Julia, as well as two grandsons ages 11 months and three and half years old. “They are my life,” Hinkle said with pride. Maggie, the family’s “mutt dog,” was found in a pile of mulch at the county Extension office, Hinkle said.

For more information, visit https://www.hinkleforkentucky.com/ online.