By Noah Oldham

Contributing writer

Gov.-elect Andy Beshear lost Clark County but raised almost twice as much campaign money from Winchester residents as Gov. Matt Bevin, according to reports from their campaigns up to 15 days before the election.

Many of Beshear’s local contributors have connections to state government.

 Bevin got 52.6 percent of Clark County’s vote, and Beshear got 45.6 percent. Beshear, the state attorney general, received contributions from 41 people in Winchester, totaling $41,478.68, according to his campaign’s reports.

Bevin received contributions from 18 individuals in Winchester, totaling $23,050. The wealthy governor financed about 42 percent of his own campaign, according to its reports to the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance.

Kentucky law limits contributors to $2,000 per campaign per election. Counting primary and general elections, the most a contributor can give a candidate is $4,000. There are no limits on how much a candidate may contribute to their own campaign.

Winchester’s William and Mischelle Hodgkin each gave Beshear the $4,000 maximum. The campaign’s report listed William Hodgkin as a retired banker and investor. He and his wife have contributed a total of almost $74,000 to various Kentucky candidates, mostly Democrats, since 1997, according to the Registry of Election Finance database.

The Palmer family of Winchester gave $8,500 to Beshear’s campaign.

Ralph Palmer is a co-founder of Palmer Engineering, a firm that has received millions in contracts with the state Transportation Cabinet, according to the state’s contract database. He retired in 2006. His son, RJ Palmer II, was a Democratic state senator from 2001 until 2015, when he was unseated by Bevin’s 2019 running mate, Ralph Alvarado. He was Senate minority leader in the last four years of his term.

Employees of Palmer Engineering have contributed $70,490 to candidates in Kentucky since 2014. One such employee is engineer Garret Ward of Winchester, who gave $2,000 to Beshear’s campaign.

Other notable Winchester contributors to Beshear included William Grant, a retired teacher. Grant gave $3,541.18 to the campaign, $2,741.18 of it in-kind, for catering and alcoholic beverages for a fundraising event.

Other large contributors to Beshear’s campaign from Winchester include Steven Adams, owner of Steven D. Adams Real Estate Services, and Mark Swartz, president of Swartz Enterprises, a highway contractor. Both gave $2,000.

Swartz Enterprises has had three contracts with Kentucky since 2016, according to the contract database.

William Bushart, a home inspector, and his wife Karen Bushart, a former Clark County property valuation administrator, gave a combined total of $1,125 to Beshear. Wayne Helderman, an optometrist, gave $1,000.

Andy Beshear’s parents, former governor Steve Beshear and Jane Beshear, each gave the $4,000 maximum but are not included in this story’s totals because their farm in southeastern Clark County has a Lexington postal address.

Bevin also had notable contributors in Clark County.

His top contributor from Winchester was Ronald Tierney, owner of Tierney Storage, who gave $4,000.

Patrick Tierney, listed as a developer with Red Deere, a roofing company, gave Bevin $2,000.

Other large Bevin contributors from Winchester were James and Diane Tipton, who gave a combined $4,000. Diane Tipton is a real estate broker; James Tipton is a retired farmer.

Marvin and Jean Bishop gave a combined $2,500 to Bevin’s campaign. He is a retired dermatologist.

Anthony Parrish, president and CEO of Peoples Exchange Bank, gave Bevin $2,000.

Alvarado gave $2,150 to the campaign. His wife, Dawn Alvarado, gave $2,000.

Beshear will take office Tuesday.

The law requires each campaign to file another finance report 60 days after the Nov. 5 election. Beshear’s inaugural committee will also have to report.

The finance reports are available online at http://www.kref.state.ky.us/krefsearch/.