State Police Union announces endorsements in NKY races
LinkNKY August 12, 2022 – The group selected only four House Democrats statewide, with Rep. Rachel Roberts (D-Newport) being the only Democrat endorsed in Northern Kentucky.
One of the reasons the group selected Roberts is because she worked with them on House Bill 206, a bill that decertifies police officers if they’re convicted of sexual assault offenses.
“That was something that the FOP felt really near and dear to support because we don’t want bad cops on the streets,” Straw said. “Roberts was a champion for that.”
Her opponent, Republican Jerry Gearding, has been arrested twice for alleged domestic violence and another time for violating the conditions of his release. The FOP did not endorse Gearding.
This led to a diversion in 2020 that forced him to move to South Carolina briefly.
(Diversion programs allow offenders to seek alternative help in place of charges, and in Kentucky, if a defendant completes the provisions of the agreement can have their charges dismissed, and it no longer constitutes a criminal conviction.)
“I don’t believe that he would represent law enforcement the way that we would hope in Frankfort,” Straw said. “Not only has he been accused of those crimes, and had you know, what’s obviously fact in there, guilty or not, I mean, he’s had consistent run-ins with the police.”
Straw added that law enforcement in the area were in overwhelming favor of Roberts, and “it wasn’t even close.”
