It’s Official: Moffett Is Adams’s Gubernatorial Candidate

After David Adams left Republican Rand Paul‘s Senate campaign, the former campaign director said he was working with a GOP gubernatorial ticket that would likely gain Tea Party support.

The ticket was announced today:

Phil Moffett, co-founder and managing partner of the Louisville-based telecom management company CCS Partners, is running for governor, and his running mate for lieutenant governor is Rep. Mike Harmon of Boyle County.

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Moffett has been a board member of the Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions, an independent research and educational institution for the state’s public policy issues.

He also is co-founder and serves on the board of directors of School CHOICE Scholarships of Kentucky Inc., a privately funded school-choice program providing scholarships to low-income families to allow their children to attend private schools.

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Harmon, a loan officer, has been a member of the state House since 2003. He is vice chair of the Tourism Development and Energy Committee and has a bachelor’s degree from Eastern Kentucky University.

State Republican Party Chairman Steve Robertson said the Moffett-Harmon announcement “is encouraging in that conservative Republicans are stepping forward to challenge a very vulnerable governor who has not earned the support of Kentucky voters to seek a second term.”

Speculation is high on which other Republicans may enter the race. Democratic Governor Steve Beshear is seeking a second term, with Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson also on the ticket.

Speculation Is High In Gubernatorial Race

The Kentucky gubernatorial race is next year, but the contest has been in the news since last summer, when Mayor Jerry Abramson announced he was seeking the Lieutenant Governor’s post on Governor Steve Beshear‘s re-election ticket.

But what about a Republican ticket? The Herald-Leader has a rundown of the Republicans who may challenge Beshear:

The most prominent of the Republicans mulling a challenge to Beshear is Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville. But talk by Williams, a member of the state legislature since 1985, about running for governor has failed to freeze the field of candidates for the political heavyweight.

David Adams, a former campaign director for U.S. Senate Republican nominee Rand Paul, has said he will announce a Republican ticket Thursday that hopes to pick up support from the Tea Party movement. The announcement is to come after 3 p.m. on Leland Conway’s radio show on 630 WLAP, followed by a news conference.

Adams has declined to identify the ticket, but several political blogs have mentioned that it might be Phil Moffett, a Louisville businessman and a member of the board of directors of the Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions, and state Rep. Mike Harmon of Boyle County. Neither could be reached for comment Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Republican State Rep. Bill Farmer of Lexington, who has pushed for state tax reform, confirmed Tuesday that he is looking at the race with Rep. Adam Koenig of Erlanger as his running mate.

Farmer, who has been in the state House since 2003, said he is disappointed that the state has not tackled changes in its tax code.

“I know a lot of people are surprised that I am talking about the race but no one has gotten out front to tackle our problems,” said Farmer.

Several Republicans say their “dream ticket” would be Williams slated with state Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer, who still enjoys much popularity in the state as a standout basketball player at the University of Kentucky in the 1990s. He is not related to Bill Farmer.