A few months back,when it looked like the field was set for the Mayor's race, it seemed like Metro Councilman Jim King was in the driver's seat.
He had/still has the most money. Compared with David Tandy, Greg Fischer and Tyler Allen, his most visible primary opponents, he has higher name recognition. And he has a history of winning controversial elections, including the one he orchestrated for daughter Katie in 2008.
But King keeps tripping over his own feet. Today, as reported in LEO, King has drawn the ire of some St. Xavier High School alumni, who are pissed that King sent a fundraiser invitation to their members touting him as "a son of St. X and our next Mayor."
A St. X spokesman, Micahel Littel, told LEO he didn't know how King got the alumni mailing list and that the school is conducting an investigation.
After LEO's story was published this morning, King tried to backtrack, canceling the Dec. 2 fundraiser (at Skybar in St. Matthews) and calling the St. X president to apologize. It also sent regrets to the mailing list that got the original flyer.
From the King campaign: As you may know, Jim has the utmost respect, admiration and affection for the school that he feels changed his life. He has spoken to school leadership and apologized for any inconvenience.
Because of the confusion, the campaign has cancelled the fundraiser and issued the following notice via email to those alumni who may have inadvertently received the invitation which was meant to be distributed to friends, classmates and supporters of St. X alums on the campaign.
“The Jim King for Mayor campaign sent you an evite to a fundraiser. Our intention was to send this communication only to friends and supporters. It was not our intention to imply that St. X endorsed the event. This evite and the distribution was not approved by St. X. To avoid confusion that this event is related to St. X it will be cancelled. We apologize for any inconvenience we may have caused.”
Sound familiar? King made a similar apology after he attempted to have his divorce records sealed from public view. He only pulled back after the Courier-Journal took him to court on it.
King's also been in hot water because of activist Ed Springston's efforts to have him held accountable for breaking campaign finance laws in Katie's 2008 campaign, for which the attorney general's office has appointed a special prosecutor.
He's also attracting the only negative campaigning of the race, thus far, from Republican Chris Thieneman, who has posted yard signs in King's district that read: "We Need a Mayor, Not a King."
Can King survive all this and still make a successful run at the city's highest office? It's starting to look less likely, but remember no one thought Katie had a chance after a firestorm of negative media attention in 2008.
This is only the first of many transgressions of Mr. King during this campaign. If the past is any indicator, King has a certain moral ambiguity when it comes to rules regarding campaigns.
Jim King is a criminal, and we've had the good fortune to discover that prior to granting him access to the mayor's office. I am glad to see that St. X is not having any of it.
Jim King is the Boss Hogg (see Duke of Hazzard)of Louisville politics.
His campaign is dead. He keeps "accidentally" emailing/ mailing things and then retracting them. He keeps lying and getting caught. He broke campaign finance laws to buy his inexperienced daughter Katie a judge's chair...don't get me started on that debacle.
I would rather vote Republican(gasp!)than see him as Mayor.
A few months back,when it looked like the field was set for the Mayor's race, it seemed like Metro Councilman Jim King was in the driver's seat.
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Rick Redding