ASHLAND — Both Republican Jack Ditty and Democrat Robin Webb say Webb’s nearly 12 years in the Kentucky House of Representatives is an excellent reason why they should be elected to replace Charlie Borders to represent the 18th District in the Kentucky Senate.

Ditty, who is seeking his first political office, said if he wins Tuesday’s special election to represent in Carter, Greenup, Lewis, Mason, Robertson and Bracken counties in the Senate, he will immediately become part of the Republican majority and has been promised the vice chairmanship of the health committee and seats on the budget and transportation committees by Senate President David Williams. That immediately would give him more influence than Democrat Webb would have and put him in a better position to represent the people of the district.

In fact, Ditty insists Webb will be surrendering far more influence than she will be gaining by moving from the House to the Senate. She now is vice chairperson of the House budget committee and a member of the Democratic House leadership. None of her seniority will transfer to the Senate, Ditty said, and like him, she would be just another freshman senator. Only she will be part of the minority, instead of the majority.

However, Webb sees her years in the House as a plus. Unlike her two opponents, she knows how the legislative process works and has demonstrated the ability to work with members of both political parties during her years in the House. She also said there needs to be stronger ties between the House and the Senate, and she is in a position to build a better relationship. She said she is tired of good bills being approved by the House — often with solid, bipartisan support — only to die in the Senate without even a debate, much less a vote.

“I want to change the mindset that now exists in the Senate,” Webb said.

The other Guy

Independent Guy E. Gibbons said he is in the best position to give the 18th District the kind of representation it needs. “I’m not owned by either the Republican Party or the Democratic Party,” said Gibbons, a Russell retiree who says he is basically conservative. “I’ve not sold out to anyone. I’m my own person.”

During a whirlwind campaign that has lasted just a few days longer than a month, Webb and Ditty have each raised thousands of dollars and conducted expensive media campaigns. In contrast, Gibbons said he has spent between $1,400 and $1,500 on his campaign and has accepted only small contributions, all from residents of the district. On the other hand, much of the money raised by Ditty and Webb has come from outside the district.

While his two opponents have outspent him, Gibbons said, “I’ve done a lot more traveling than they have.

“I’ve been to every part of the district and talked to a lot of people,” said Gibbons, a former member of the Flatwoods City Council. “Based on what people have been telling me, I think I have a pretty good chance.”

Expanded gambling has been a major issue in this campaign as Gov. Steve Beshear, who ran on a platform supporting casino gambling, has become frustrated with the Republican Senate refusing to support his expanded gambling efforts. Beshear has left no doubt he considers this race as a step toward the Democrats regaining control of the Senate and has actively campaigned for Webb, who supported a House-approved bill that would have placed slot machines at race tracks in Kentucky.

Webb calls the gambling issue “highly overrated.”

“I am not for casinos or the physical expansion of gambling,” she said. She wants to limit expanded gambling only to placez where gambling already exists, she said. Specifically, that’s the race tracks.

Webb also said she is leery of a voter-approved constitutional amendment to allow expanded gambling, because that would take the issue out of the hands of the General Assembly and could easily lead to more gambling than she would want. The slots bill she supports keeps the General Assembly in control of expanded gambling.

Like Senate President Williams, R-Burkesville, who Ditty says first encouraged him to run, Ditty said he opposes expanded gambling. Gibbons said he is opposed to any effort to expand gambling without a vote of the people.

“I want the issue on the ballot,” Gibbons said. “I’m tired of legislators trying to ram it down people’s throats without a vote.”

Webb’s voting record

Ditty also has criticized Webb’s voting record, claiming she has missed more votes than all by one other member of the House of Representatives. As a member of the Senate, Ditty, a dermatologist, said he will not miss votes.

“We’re elected to represent the people of our district, and you can’t do that if you are not there,” Ditty said.

Webb said she is proud of her voting record, saying she has missed only six legislative days during her years in the House, and even was present immediately after the death of her father because “that’s where he would have wanted me to be.”

Some of the votes she has missed were procedural ones taken while she was attending a committee meeting, and she also said if she does miss a vote, she will not cast it later, which can be done and is something many legislators do. “If I can’t be there, I won’t vote after the fact. That’s misleading and dishonest.”

The issue of whether Ditty accept Medicaid and Medicare patients also has been raised during this campaign. Ditty, who has been in practice in Greenup County since Aug. 4, 1980, said 42 percent to 48 percent of his patients are on Medicaid or Medicare, and this issue was raised by Webb supporters “just to discredit me.”

While Webb said she personally has not raised the Medicaid/Medicare issue, a number of people have thanked her campaign for raising it. “I have been told by a number of constituents that Dr. Ditty has refused to see them or their children because they only had Medicaid or K-CHIP coverage, and I tend to believe my constituents.”

Advertisements supporting Webb also have criticized her for being a lawyer, saying the General Assembly already has more than enough attorneys. However, Webb says she makes no apologies for being a lawyer, saying it gives her the ability to write laws as well as understand and interpret them.

Webb said she finds it ironic that Republicans are criticizing her for being a lawyer, when four of the GOP’s leaders in the Senate are attorneys, and none of the Democratic leaders are lawyers.

Ditty said while Webb would be just another lawyer in the Senate, he would be the only medical doctor in the Senate. At a time when health care is such an issue on both the state and national level, Ditty said he thinks his medical expertise give him a real advantage in this race.

Some agreement

On some issues, there is much agreement between Webb and Ditty. Both recognize that there is a prescription drug epidemic in the district, and both support offering addicts treatment instead of punishment.

Both recognize the high unemployment rate in the district and see more jobs as a major need. Both see the need to diversify the region’s economy and to strengthen education.

In regards to the state’s budget woes, Ditty accused Governor Beshear of not being completely honest about the state’s budget crisis. While the budget shortfalls were projected by the supposedly independent Consensus Forecasting Group, Ditty says the state’s money woes have not been as severe as Beshear has portrayed them to be.

Webb believe legislators have worked closely with the governor to make the necessary budget cuts as painless as possible. Nevertheless, inadequate funding for such things as mental health continue to concern her.

Gibbons said he is tired of having his taxes increased.

“We have been getting new taxes every year,” he said. “Why can’t government start living within its means like we have to? If politicians didn’t want it, there wouldn’t be a deficit.”

JOHN CANNON can be reached at jcannon@dailyindependent.com or at (606) 326-2649.