Tagged: Congressman Ben Chandler

While the biggest ticket at every Fancy Farm political picnic is the speaking, the after the picnic chatter revolves around whoever was working the crowd.

One surprise this year was Congressman Ben Chandler, who’s locked into another re-election fight in his Central Kentucky district, miles away from Fancy Farm.

Kentucky Public Radio caught up with Chandler at the grounds, where he said he was just visiting with friends for the weekend.

Congressman Ben Chandle, D-Ky., supports President Barack Obama in the fall election, but needs to focus on his own re-election rather than attend the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte later this year.

Last week, Chandler's campaign told WFPL that he was skipping the event. Since critics have pounced the central Kentucky representative for snubbing the president and running away from his own voting record.

Congressman Ben Chandler is joining a handful of prominent Democrats who will skip their party's national convention this year. 

Chandler, who represents the Sixth Congressional District in Central Kentucky, is facing Republican Andy Barr in his re-election bid. The matchup is a repeat of the 2010 race in which Chandler beat Barr by fewer than 700 votes. Other Democrats skipping the convention have been criticized for distancing themselves from President Barack Obama, who will be formally nominated for re-election at the event. But Chandler's campaign insists the decision isn't political. 

The Democratic lawmakers in Kentucky's congressional delegation handled the contempt vote of U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder in the House very differently Thursday.

The House of Representatives voted 255-to-67 to hold Holder in contempt for failing to turnover key documents tied to the controversial "Fast and Furious" gun-running operation. But the Obama administration has said the Justice Department has turned over 7,000 pages to Congress and called the vote a "witch hunt."

Over a dozen Democrats joined the Republican majority, including Sixth District Congressman Ben Chandler of Lexington. He said holding Holder in contempt was more about oversight than politics.

From Chandler's office:

“Throughout my time in Congress and as Attorney General of Kentucky, I have always supported the principle of public disclosure and been an advocate for open records regardless of which party is in power. I voted to hold Harriet Miers and Joshua Bolten in contempt while President Bush was in office, and even though some Republicans have turned this into a political circus, it is imperative that Congress is able to exercise its duties of oversight.”

The national group in charge of getting Republicans elected to Congress is investing $400,000 in Kentucky’s Sixth Congressional District.

The National Republican Congressional Committee has purchased television ad time to support Republican Andy Barr’s second challenge against Congressman Ben Chandler this fall. Barr came within 650 votes of defeating Chandler in 2010.