Tax-And-Spend Republican Loses
Lost in the midst of some exciting federal races, the Republican in the General Assembly most dedicated to spending your tax dollars was defeated in a primary.
From Ryan Alessi:
Of the 21 sitting state lawmakers who drew intra-party challenges, only two - a pair of veteran members of the House of Representatives -- lost.
Rep. Charlie Siler, R-Corbin, narrowly lost his seat to Dewayne Bunch, a science teacher, by 123 votes -- less than two percentage points in the 82nd House district.
Bunch is now the representative-elect because no Democrat filed to run for that seat. The third time was the charm for Bunch, who came in second to Siler out of four candidates in 2006, then lost to him by 11 percentage points in 2008.
Siler, 80, was one of the more moderate House Republicans. He supported unions, being from a big railroad area of Corbin, and occasionally crossed party lines on key votes. He also was known as a statesman. He wouldn't make many speeches on the House floor, but when he did, his colleagues listened.
Siler was, in fact, the most liberal Republican in the House, scoring only 42, 37, and 36 in 2007, 2008 and 2009.
While we are unfamiliar with Mr. Bunch, we expect this is an improvement for Kentucky.
