Auditor of public accounts endorsement -- Linda Greenwell

Crit Luallen is proof that you don’t have to be male to be a good ol’ boy.

She’s been in state government for decades and has served at the right hand of the last three Democrat governors. She bolted from her position as Secretary of the Executive Cabinet in Paul Patton’s administration, at the height of his sex and ethics investigation, to preserve her own political viability. She ran for state auditor four years ago, barely beating Republican opponent Linda Greenwell.

This year, voters get a chance to correct the mistake they made when they elected Luallen. They should do so by choosing Greenwell to serve as auditor for the next four years.

During her 2003 campaign, Greenwell warned of what might happen if the two watchdogs over the executive branch, auditor and attorney general, were Democrats under a Republican administration. Her fears came to pass. Attorney General Greg Stumbo’s arbitrary prosecution of personnel violations against the Fletcher administration speaks for itself, but the auditor’s office under Luallen has engaged in similar partisan behavior. Luallen claims that she has instituted more audits against local Democrat officials than Republicans, but her office only rushes to put out a press release claiming corruption in local government when a Republican is involved. One of the most egregious examples came when her office found fault with Knott County Judge-Executive Randy Thompson’s spending. Thompson, a Republican appointed by Gov. Fletcher in the wake of a criminal vote-buying scandal that claimed the career of Democrat Donnie Newsome, and then elected to his own term, was written up for things that occurred while Newsome was still in office and running the county out of his prison cell.

Luallen has also tacked pressing items such as the state’s awarding of a contract for vehicle purchases to the only bidder who successfully fulfilled the bid specifications – sounds like good government to us; the real crime would be giving a bid to a bidder that didn’t meet the specifications – and the application of the state’s new “Unbridled Spirit” brand. Between going after local Republican officials and needlessly investigating the executive branch’s proper spending, it’s hard to believe she has time to campaign and to keep up her appearances with the Democrats’ old guard in this state.

Luallen brags about her government service that spans three decades, but most of that time was spent in the service of the Democrat machine that has held this state back for years. That alone is reason enough to turn her out of office, which the voters should do.

Greenwell is personable, competent, and is a lady of integrity. She should have been elected four years ago, and she should be elected this time around.

We heartily endorse Linda Greenwell for auditor. Kentucky voters should reject the female good ol’ boy, Crit Luallen, and put an independent auditor in place.