Teacher upsets Kentucky House Republican Leader Jonathan Shell in primary
LOUISVILLE — In an election that may be an early sign of the energized voting power of Kentucky teachers, House Republican Leader Jonathan Shell lost his re-election bid in a primary to a teacher.
With all precincts reporting, R. Travis Brenda, a math teacher from Berea, won 51 percent of the vote against Shell, of Lancaster.
The race was the most closely watched of any race for the General Assembly on Tuesday because it pitted an established Republican leader against a teacher who campaigned against the 2018 legislative session.
Shell had been widely considered a rising star in the Kentucky Republican Party since being first elected to represent the House’s 71st district in 2012.
But he was part of the legislature’s Republican leadership team that crafted and passed pension, tax and budget bills late in the session before the public had a chance to read them.
The Republican leadership said the bills would help ease the state’s pension crisis while a modest increase in taxes would mean the budget would not include deep cuts to education funding included in Republican Gov. Matt Bevin’s budget.
But teachers rallied in unprecedented numbers throughout the session against pension cuts and more money for schools. While benefit cuts in the final pension bill were minimal, teachers continued to protest the pension bill.
Brenda campaigned hard as a teacher who opposed the pension bill and said that Shell had lost touch with his constituents in the district, which is comprised by Garrard and Rockcastle counties and part of Madison County.
Brenda will face Democrat Mary Renfro, of Berea, in the November election.
Shell was one of several incumbent House members to fall in Tuesday’s primary elections.
In the Democratic primary for the 40th House District, longtime incumbent Dennis Horlander, of Louisville, was defeated by challenger Nima Kulkarni, also of Louisville. Kulkarni will face Republican Joshua Neubert in the general election.Â
And in the Republican primary in the 90th House District race, incumbent Rep. Tim Couch, of Hyden, who has served in the House since 2003, was defeated by challenger Derek Lewis, of London. No Democrat filed to run in this district.
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