AP PHOTO/JOHN FLAVELL
KENTUCKY’S
KING
lection of idealists like Cooper and
Cook into a dominating force in
his image. In the summer of 1999,
he helped engineer his party’s historic takeover of the state Senate.
Behind the scenes, he played what
the press described as a “pivotal”
role in pushing two Democratic
lawmakers from familiar regions
to defect to the GOP. State Sens.
Dan Seum of Jefferson County and
Bob Leeper of Paducah changed
parties and turned the state Senate over to the Republicans.
Before he announced his switch,
Seum says he made a pilgrimage to
McConnell’s Louisville residence.
McConnell corralled the state
Republican leaders into a room,
where they pledged to support
Seum. “The point is if you are going
to make this jump, this switch, it’s
nice to know someone helpful, and
Mitch was very helpful,” he says.
Leeper has since become an independent. But the Republicans
are still in control of the state
Senate and have a credible shot
of one day taking over the state
House of Representatives. Kentucky Republicans know who to
thank: They named their headquarters building after McConnell.
McConnell’s Bluegrass Committee PAC has capitalized on his
HUFFINGTON
08.11.13
national leadership position to
funnel cash into state politics. Its
donations have gone not only to
tight congressional races across
the country, but to down-ballot
contests in Kentucky, all the way
to lowly statehouse challengers.
“A whole lot of people are indebted to him from that early support,” Trey Grayson, the former
Kentucky secretary of state, says.
“He earned a lot of loyalty.” The
size of the check wasn’t necessarily what mattered either. Even
$1,000 sent a signal to the state’s
political class.
Such campaign spending became even more critical to McConnell after the tea party swept
McConnell
played a role
in pushing
Democratic
Senators
Bob Leeper
(left) and Dan
Seum (right)
to defect to
the GOP in
1999. Leeper
is now an
independent.