Conway is out, Luallen files for re-election

In political news, Louisville attorney Jack Conway will not be a candidate for Governor in 2007. Mark Hebert reported the following earlier:

Conway says he would feel "very comfortable" as attorney general. Conway says he's waiting for current a.g. Greg Stumbo to decide on his reelection plans. If Stumbo doesn't seek reelection or decides to run for another office, Conway says he'll likely jump into the attorney general's race.

Conway says he talked to his new wife, Elizabeth, over the holidays and decided that a run for governor would require too much money out of their pockets. Conway says having fellow democrats Jonathan Miller and Steve Beshear already raising money hurt his chances to generate big money from donors outside Louisville. Conway also recognized that he's little known outside the Gene Snyder Freeway and would have to spend millions of dollars just to get decent statewide name recognition.

State Auditor Crit Luallen will be a candidate for re-election.

“I have received overwhelming support from across the state to continue the good work my staff and I have accomplished as State Auditor. It has been a very rewarding experience and it is more critical than ever that Kentucky have an independent watchdog committed to protecting the taxpayer’s money.

I hope to continue to bring competence, vision, and integrity to the debate concerning Kentucky’s long-term challenges,” Luallen said.

Ms. Luallen’s first term accomplishments include finding multiple cases of fraud and abuse, leading to the indictment and conviction of several public officials. This includes the largest ever case of fraud uncovered by the State Auditor’s Office, the theft of over $900,000 in utility receipts in the City of Providence. In addition the office has expanded the use of performance auditing to determine that Kentucky state government could save over $70 million a year with the reimportation of prescription drugs and an analysis showing Kentucky’s school dropout rate is not accurate.

It was earlier reported that Audrey Haynes would be the candidate for Secretary of State. It is unlikely that she will be running at this point as she is waiting on what Vice President Al Gore decides to do.