Mayor wins 2-week write-in campaign to succeed Kentucky lawmaker who died

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FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — An Appalachian mayor was declared the winner Thursday of an 11-candidate scramble for a Kentucky Senate seat left vacant by the death of the Republican incumbent just two weeks before Election Day.

Pineville Mayor Scott Madon, a Republican who branded himself as a conservative supporter of public education, transportation, coal and now-President-elect Donald Trump, easily outdistanced his rivals in the whirlwind, write-in campaign spanning five counties in the eastern Kentucky district.

Madon, 62, will succeed the late state Sen. Johnnie Turner, 76, who died Oct. 22 after being injured weeks earlier when he plunged into an empty swimming pool at his home while on a lawn mower.

Madon will serve a full four-year term in Kentucky’s Republican-supermajority legislature.

“I will do my very best to carry on and continue Sen. Turner’s legacy of service to eastern Kentucky,” Madon said in a tribute to his predecessor, who was known for his staunch support for the coal industry and other causes in his Appalachian district.

Turner’s death — along with the prior withdrawal of his only general election challenger — prompted a frenzied write-in campaign for the Senate seat. Eleven people filed to run within days of Turner’s death. Those write-in hopefuls who had filed their paperwork were the only eligible vote-getters.

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The Republican establishment quickly rallied around Madon. The mayor was endorsed by the region’s powerful GOP congressman, Hal Rogers, and the Senate Republican Campaign Caucus Committee, which provided crucial financial and organizational support to boost Madon’s campaign.

Turner’s wife, Maritza Turner, and their children also supported Madon, saying in a statement that the mayor would champion the “conservative Republican values Johnnie held dear.”

“To have their backing and encouragement despite their time of tremendous grief and mourning was incredibly touching and very emotional for me,” Madon said in his victory statement.

Even with those advantages, it turned into an exhaustive few days of campaigning. Early in-person voting in Kentucky began six days after Madon formally entered the race. The mayor was already well known in Bell County, which includes Pineville, but he had to quickly build name recognition in the other four counties in a short amount of time, said Madon’s campaign consultant, T.J. Litafik.

“This one was like drinking from a fire hose,” Litafik said Thursday.

Campaign signs went up at key highway intersections, and Madon advertised heavily on TV, radio and social media and distributed campaign mailers in the district.

“We worked hard and fast because we knew we were rushing to beat the clock late in the fourth quarter of the game,” Litafik said.