Frankfort, KY. (AP) – A longtime state MP announced on Friday that he was replacing parties, joining the Republican supermers in the last failure for the Democrats trying to restore support in rural kentucky.
State Senator Robin Web, which represents four districts from the northeastern Kentucky, revealed that it would join the ranks of GOP legislators, which control the flow of legislation in the country. Web was one of the last rural democrats in Kentucky’s legislation, and her defect leaves her former party more connected to urban and suburban areas in a country with large sections of GOP-controlled rural territory.
Web said in a news message that he feels more and more excluded by the Democratic Party as he continues to “go into the left”.
“It became insolvent and counterproductive for the best interests of my voters to remain a Democrat,” Web said. “I will continue to be a fearless defender of the village Kentucky and for the residents of East Kentucky, who were so good with me and my family.”
Kentucky Democratic Party chairman Kolmon Elridge said in a message that the Web has chosen to be aligned with a political party trying to finance tax reliefs for the rich people from the back of vulnerable people.
It was a prickly reference to the multiple dollar tax relief package recently accepted by US Republicans. To compensate for some of the lost tax revenue, Republicans focused on changes in Medicaid and the food stamp program. The non -partisan budget office of the Congress estimates that 8.6 million smaller people would have a health coverage and 3 million people a month will have the benefits of food stamps with the proposed changes.
“If these are her priorities, then we agree: she is not a Democrat,” Elrridge said.
Web emphasized that its main values have not changed.
“The only difference today is the letter to my name,” she said.
The Web has compiled a personal and professional resumption, deeply rooted in Kentucky culture. She is a hunter, horses enthusiast and former coal miner who changed career paths to become a lawyer.
The Web first joined the Kentucky House in 1999 when Democrats controlled the Chamber. She spent a decade as a state representative before joining the Senate, led by GOP in 2009. Republicans took full control of the 2016 election legislative power when they were riding in Donald Trump’s cocktails to win the house in Kentucky. The Republicans set fire to their legislative numbers in the next election, giving them their prevailing majorities.
The Republicans have achieved this domination by winning in rural areas previously conducted by the Democrats, but the web area remained a blue point on the map until Friday.
Its party switch leaves the Democrats mostly deprived of a rural presence in the legislature. One exception is the democratic state reputation Ashley Ticket Lferti, which is an Appalachian neighborhood.
The bilateral governor of the state, Democrat Andy Bear, won a number of rural counties and shrinks GOP margins in others when he re-elected in 2023. Its popularity was built on the stable economic growth of the state during its term and processing with disasters, from tornado and floods to the Covid-199.
The Democrats in Kentucky are trying to ignite a rural return with a strategy of the foundation, proven by the ongoing “listening tour” of the state party with stops in culturally conservative cities throughout the country.
State Republican Party President Robert Benventti said the web party switch reflects a wider political trend. In 2022, GoP was ahead of the Democratic Party in the state registration of voters.
“Like countless Kentucks, she acknowledged that the policies and goals of today’s Democratic Party are just not what they have ever been and do not align with the vast majority of Kentucci,” he said.
Legislators will start their session in 2026 in early January, but Arser said he would probably call MPs for a special session sometime this year to start financing the storm. Parts of southeastern kentucky were devastated by deadly tornado in May, while other parts of the Bluegrass country were flooded in April.