State Representative Patti Minter is heading back to Frankfort to represent Warren County in the state legislature.
According to unofficial results, Minter beat Independent challenger Leanette Lopez by 40 percentage points in Tuesday’s election.
Minter will return to the General Assembly as a Democrat in less than ideal circumstances. Republicans built on the super-majorities they already had in the state House and Senate.
Initial returns on Tuesday night showed Kentucky Republicans gaining up to 12 seats in the 100-member state House, where they already hold 62 seats. Minter says the GOP will still have to compromise or face the ramifications.
“Good government involves bipartisan work so I think where super-majorities get in trouble is when they think they have a license to run the table and that’s when you tend to see a backlash election in the following cycle," Minter told WKU Public Radio.
Minter was first elected in 2018 and sees an opportunity in her second term to work with Republicans on bi-partisan bills related to healthcare. A bill she co-sponsored last session would lower the price of insulinfor diabetics. While it cleared the House, the legislation died in the Senate. Minter plans to reintroduce the bill in 2021.
She also pre-filed a bill for next session to protect Kentuckians with pre-existing conditions if the federal Affordable Care Act is overturned in a case headed to the U.S. Supreme Court next week. That bill also had bi-partisan support in this year's General Assembly, but failed to clear both chambers.
