westerfield, w
<div>narrowly lost to b</div><div>
</div><div>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitney_Westerfield</div><div>
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<div>off bs</div><div>http://www.whitneywesterfield.com/meetwhitney/</div><div>
</div><div><p style="margin-top: 0px; color: rgb(54, 54, 54); font-family: proxima-nova; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Whitney was first elected to the Kentucky State Senate in 2012 as a representative of the citizens of Christian, Todd, and Logan counties in Western Kentucky. Whitney currently serves as the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and as a member of the Capital Planning Advisory Board, Tobacco Fund Settlement Oversight, Agriculture, Transportation, Natural Resources & Energy, Veterans/Military Affairs/Public Protection and the Program Review & Investigations Committees in the State Senate. In 2013, Whitney served as Co-Chairman of the Juvenile Code Reform Task Force and during the 2014 Regular Session sponsored <a target="blank" href="http://www.lrc.ky.gov/record/14RS/SB200.htm" style="color: rgb(0, 4, 255); text-decoration: none;">Senate Bill 200</a>, reflecting the work of the Task Force and bringing about the largest reform to Kentucky's juvenile justice system in 30 years<a href="http://www.whitneywesterfield.com/s/AppIcon-co24.png" style="color: rgb(0, 4, 255); text-decoration: none;">.</a> Whitney continues juvenile justice policy work as Co-Chairman of the SB200 Oversight Council, overseeing the implementation of the bill as well as exploring numerous other juvenile justice policies. You can find <a target="blank" href="http://www.lrc.ky.gov/legislator/S003.htm" style="color: rgb(0, 4, 255); text-decoration: none;">Whitney's official Legislative page here.</a></p><p style="color: rgb(54, 54, 54); font-family: proxima-nova; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Whitney is a lifelong resident of Hopkinsville, in Christian County, Kentucky, and presently is an attorney with the Fletcher Law Firm in Hopkinsville after serving over five years as an Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney. His prosecutorial record has included successful convictions on charges ranging from misdemeanors to homicide. Now in private civil practice, Whitney serves clients all over Western Kentucky.</p><p style="color: rgb(54, 54, 54); font-family: proxima-nova; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Whitney has long been an active member of his community. Between 2008 and 2012 Whitney served on the Boys and Girls Club Board of Directors, including a term as Secretary. As a member of the <a href="http://www.hopkinsvillekiwanis.org/" style="color: rgb(0, 4, 255); text-decoration: none;">Kiwanis Club of Hopkinsville</a> since March of 2007, and former member of the Board of Directors, Whitney also served as chair of the Kiwanis Club <a target="blank" href="http://www.hopkinsvillesoapbox.com/" style="color: rgb(0, 4, 255); text-decoration: none;">Soap Box Derby</a> Committee for 2008 and 2009. Whitney has previously served on the Hopkinsville American Red Cross Advisory Committee and the Board for the <a href="http://www.pennyrileunitedway.org/" style="color: rgb(0, 4, 255); text-decoration: none;">United Way of the Pennyrile</a>, and during 2012 served as United Way Board Chair. Whitney currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors for the <a target="blank" href="http://www.kacac.org/" style="color: rgb(0, 4, 255); text-decoration: none;">Kentucky Association of Child Advocacy Centers</a>, a critical statewide resource for victims and families dealing with child sexual abuse. Whitney and his wife, Amanda, also serve on the Board of Directors for<a target="_blank" href="http://www.alphapcc.org/" style="color: rgb(0, 4, 255); text-decoration: none;">Alpha Alternative</a>, a crisis pregnancy care center in Hopkinsville.</p><p style="color: rgb(54, 54, 54); font-family: proxima-nova; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Whitney graduated from Christian County High School in 1999, and received his B.S. in Communication, with university and departmental honors, at the University of Kentucky in 2003. Whitney earned his J.D. in the spring of 2006 from Southern Illinois University School of Law, and has been an active member of the Kentucky Bar since October 2006 and the Tennessee Bar since 2012.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0px; color: rgb(54, 54, 54); font-family: proxima-nova; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Whitney owns a small row crop farm in North Christian County with his five brothers. Amanda is a local elementary Spanish teacher. Whitney, Amanda and their daughter attend First Baptist Church in Hopkinsville.</p>
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<p><b>Democrat Andy Beshear and Republican Whitney Westerfield are the men
publicly running to be Kentucky's next attorney general.</b> But behind the
scenes, scores of corporations, wealthy businessmen, lawyers, lobbyists
and labor unions have given several million dollars to two independent
groups loosely affiliated with the Democratic and Republican parties,
which are spending that money on a barrage of attack ads meant to
influence voters.
Many donors hedge their bets, not knowing who will win. Among those
giving heavily to independent groups on both sides of the attorney
general's race — simultaneously underwriting attacks on Beshear and
Westerfield — are 21st Century Fox, the American Gaming Association,
Golden Living nursing homes, Duke Energy, distiller Brown-Forman,
pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, the American Petroleum Institute, eBay, the
American Beverage Association, discount cigarette maker XCaliber
International, brewer Anheuser Busch and Monster Energy caffeine drinks.
The deep-pocketed donors, mostly from outside Kentucky, have an
interest in not getting sued or prosecuted by attorneys general
representing the 50 states. This fall, they can focus their efforts on
the three states choosing a top lawyer in this off-year election:
Kentucky, Louisiana and Mississippi.
<b>Golden Living</b>, for instance, based in Plano, Texas, gave $25,000 each
this year to both of the independent groups involved in Kentucky's
attorney general's race. The company is no stranger to statehouse legal
problems. Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane is targeting its
nursing homes in her state for allegedly failing to provide basic
services to elderly residents, a charge the company denies. In 2013, the
company agreed to pay $613,300 to settle claims of "inadequate and
worthless wound care services to residents" brought by the state of
Georgia and the U.S. Department of Justice.
"Golden Living fraudulently billed Medicaid for nursing services
which were substandard and, tragically, resulted in harm to patients,"
Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens said at that time.
Money flows from these contributors to two national groups, neither
of which is allowed by law to coordinate with its favored candidate.
<b>The Republican Attorneys General Association is running ads that say
Beshear would do the bidding of his "special-interest" campaign donors
and Democratic President Barack Obama, who is hugely unpopular in
Kentucky.</b> The Bluegrass Alliance for Consumer Rights — largely funded by
the Democratic Attorneys General Association — is airing a commercial
that shows a man in a bathrobe, supposedly Westerfield, enjoying a
pedicure and a facial at a spa instead of doing his duty prosecuting
criminals.
Beshear and Westerfield have complained about the accuracy of attacks
made by the independent groups, while each insists he has no control
over the independent group assailing his opponent.
The Democratic group said it bought $630,000 of television air time
on Oct. 5. The Republican group reported spending $2.2 million in
Kentucky as of Oct. 2. More money could come in the campaign's final
weeks.
Most of the donors give $10,000 to $50,000 per contribution, with
some giving multiple times. In exchange, donors get to meet the state
attorneys general and their top legal aides at private conferences
organized by the independent groups throughout the year.
Last June, for example, the Republican Attorneys General Association
hosted its summer meeting at a luxury oceanfront resort in San Diego,
according to conference documents available online. Eighteen attorneys
general and seven candidates for attorney general spent the weekend
golfing, dining, holding campaign fund-raisers and attending
business-friendly panel discussions. They were joined by hundreds of
executives from banks, payday lenders, tobacco companies, health
insurers and technology firms, among many others who paid the RAGA for
the access.
<b>For $10,000, "gold sponsor" donors were promised admission to "the
private appreciation dinner" with attorneys general at last year's three
national RAGA meetings. For $50,000, donors got that same deal, plus
admission to even more intimate "host committee dinners" at national
meetings, and an "annual opportunity to lead private briefings with
Republican attorneys general."</b>
The two attorneys general groups did not return calls last week seeking comment on their Kentucky efforts.
Several U.S. Supreme Court decisions since 2010 allow donors,
including corporations and unions, to make unlimited payments to such
independent groups. Much of this can be passed along anonymously as
"dark money" by organizations that can conceal who funds them. For
instance, the<b> conservative group Judicial Crisis Network gave $100,000
on June 1 to the RAGA; because of the way it's organized, it does not
have to explain its funding.</b>
"We're seeing these outside groups getting involved more and more in
state races, even in down-ticket state races and state legislative
races," said Jordan Libowitz of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics
in Washington.
"It's particularly bad with an attorney general's race, because then
you've got these conflict-of-interest concerns given the very nature of
what an attorney general does," Libowitz said. "He's supposed to be the
attorney for the people. But these same corporations who get to do
back-door lobbying with the attorney general with big campaign donations
often have business before the attorney general's office."</p><p>oct 2015</p><p>http://www.kentucky.com/news/politics-government/article42644670.html
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