In the Republican primary in the KY-03 House race, the NRCC chose Jeff Reetz as their candidate — but it looks like they chose the wrong tea partier.
Reetz, a Pizza Hut franchise owner, lost the primary, badly, to UPS pilot Todd Lally. Lally won 52% of the vote to Reetz’s 17%, with 94% of precincts reporting. Reetz didn’t even come in second: Another Republican, Larry Hausman, garnered 25% of the vote.
All the candidates had courted the tea party vote, and Lally and Reetz had both appeared at tea party events and had spoken out against “ObamaCare.” But the NRCC chose Reetz for their “Young Guns” program, naming him a third-tier “on the radar” candidate in April.
It’s a quieter echo of the Kentucky Senate race, where tea partier Rand Paul won the primary tonight in a landslide over establishment candidate Trey Grayson. Paul’s win is a bit of a blow to Republicans, especially Senate Minority Leader and Kentucky senator Mitch McConnell.
Lally will face Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY), who was unopposed in the primary, and independent candidate Michael D. Hansen in November.
The Third District includes most of Louisville, and was the only district in Kentucky to go for President Obama in a split of 56 to 43.
