Johnny Ray Turner is a Democratic

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 member of the Kentucky Senate

Kentucky Senate

The Kentucky Senate is the upper house of the Kentucky General Assembly. The Kentucky Senate is composed of 38 members elected from single-member districts throughout the Commonwealth. There are no term limits for Kentucky Senators...

, representing the 29th District since 2000. He is currently Minority Caucus Chair.

History

Johnny Ray Turner has had an interesting rise to power. In 1983 Knott county businessman Benny Ray Bailey defeated a retired state transportation employee Ray Turner for the 29th district state senate seat. Upon Baileys' victory he sent a certificate to Mr. Turner declaring him an honorary state senator (this action was viewed as an insult). Twenty-one years later Ray Turners' son, Johnny, threw his hat into the ring for the 29th district state senate seat. Turner, a political novice, fought a rematch against the same man who defeated his father twenty-one years before. Turner in no way had an easy campaign. In fact just a month before the election Turner faced a 36 point deficit in the polls. Turner turned these polls around with a campaign commercial that labeled senator Bailey as someone who lived in the 29th district but worked for the 30th district. The following is a 30-second TV spot that is considered to be what put turner over the top:

ANNOUNCER: Did you hear the one about the state senator who lives in Knott County making a wrong turn on Highway 80? Instead of turning the right way to go home, he heads the wrong way to Hazard where his business interests are. If this is a joke, why aren't the people of Breathitt, Floyd, Johnson and Knott counties laughing?

TURNER: It's time for a real change in Frankfort.

ANNOUNCER: Johnny Ray Turner - real leadership for real results.

When election night came Johnny Ray Turner won the 29th district state senate democratic primary with 54 percent of the vote. Since then (both in 2004 and in 2008) Senator Turner has been challenged by former senator Baileys' nephew Eric Shane Hamilton. In the 2004 campaign senator Turner won re-election by just 24 votes. In the 2008 election Senator Turner was once again challenged by Mr. Hamilton. In this election Senator Turner was once again re-elected capturing 53.5 percent of the vote.

Vote-buying Scandal

On May 5, 2005, Turner and two co-conspirators were indicted on federal charges of voter fraud stemming from the 2000 race against Bailey. The indictment claimed that the defendants illegally funneled money in order to buy votes, and that they filed false campaign finance reports to the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance. On December 13, 2006, Turner pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge and was later sentenced to three months home detention and a year of probation. Meanwhile, Turner's cousin and campaign manager, Glenn Turner, was convicted and sentenced to six months in prison for lying to a federal grand jury about the source of campaign donations involving a 2002 judicial race.

External links

• Kentucky Legislature - Senator Johnny Ray Turner official government site
• Project Vote Smart - Senator Johnny Ray Turner (KY) profile
• Follow the Money - Johnny Ray Turner
  • 2008 2006 2004 2000 campaign contributions
• KentuckyVotes.org - Sen. Johnny Ray Turner bills introduced and voting record