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Originally posted by BamaJeepster:
Jefferson County KY is blue. One of only two blue counties in 2016.

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It is considered a competitive race. Democrat Andy Beshear carried the district last year in his winning race for governor over Republican Matt Bevin.

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Senate District 26: *Ernie Harris (R) vs. Karen Berg (D)

Harris has served in the Senate since the 1995 legislative session, but was nearly kicked out of office in May by his own party, as he only narrowly defeated his challenger in the Republican primary. He will face off next week with Karen Berg, a radiologist for nearly 30 years who won 67 percent of the vote in the Democratic primary.

While there are more registered Republicans in District 26 — encompassing a portion of northeast Louisville and all of Oldham County — Democrats were encouraged by the fact that they had more voters turn out in their primary than Republicans did in their hotly contested primary.

Harris is the chair of the Senate Transportation Committee and has cited his ability to direct road projects in his district, in addition to his support from a large number of business groups and his designation as a policy “MVP” by the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce for three years in a row.

Berg has campaigned on progressive policies that have won her the endorsement of groups like the Fairness Campaign, Planned Parenthood, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America and many local labor unions. She is for repealing the right-to-work law, opposed to Bevin’s Medicaid waiver and favors expanding gambling and legalizing medical marijuana to help pay for public pensions.

The 15-day pre-election KREF reports showed that Harris spent over $109,000 and had $55,000 left, but Berg had nearly kept pace with the six-term incumbent, spending nearly $92,000 with $5,000 in the tank. Berg cited an internal campaign poll in September to assert that the race is a statistical tie.