The race for the Bluegrass Region's congressional seat pits a first term incumbent against a first time candidate. Republican Andy Barr is seeking a second term as Democrat Elisabeth Jensen works to take his seat on Capitol Hill.
Andy Barr has been active in politics for many years. Barr worked as an intern and legislative aide in Congress, and was an attorney during the administration of former Kentucky governor Ernie Fletcher. His opponent, Elisabeth Jensen, volunteered with Governor Steve Beshear's campaign and was an alternate delegate to the 2012 Democratic National Convention. Jensen was recently endorsed by the Lexington Herald Leader. Barr says the endorsement does not concern him.
"I'm more interested in the endorsement of the organizations that actually represent the people of the 6th district, like the United States Chamber of Commerce, like the unions that have endorsed me including the fraternal order of police and the Lexington firefighters and the United Mine Workers," said Barr.
Jensen says the paper's backing shows an appreciation of the real issues which affect the district. A native of Indiana, Jensen worked for Disney Consumer Products and co-founded an educational advocacy nonprofit. "I support labor and working families because I came from a family of people who worked in factories. I support the Fair Pay Act because I personally experienced wage discrimination and I know it happens at every level of the workforce," said Jensen.
Congress' favorability rating has been low for a number of years. A September Gallup poll showed Congressional job approval at 14 %. One of the few areas in which the two candidates agree, is term limits. Barr has filed legislation calling for term limits. Jensen says she could support limits of three to four terms in the House and Senate.
"Having term limits would also help in taking a lot of the cost and the money out of campaigns because there would be less people out there running for election every year. The people who are in office would be less focused on re-election if they were getting closer to the end of their term," said Jensen.
However, Jensen believes setting term limits for members of Congress is highly unlikely with the current state of politics. Likewise, Barr won't make any predictions on when the change might happen. "I always have hope. I wouldn't introduce legislation without the idea that someday we could get it done. I really believe that we could make an important change in Washington, if members of Congress, just like the president, are subject to term limits," said Barr.
Barr and Jensen are miles apart on the issue of healthcare. Jensen has received national attention for her support of the Affordable Care Act and KyNect, Kentucky's healthcare exchange. "I was not afraid to stand up for KyNect because I believed it was the right thing for our district and for our state and I took a lot of arrows for that. Even Fox News said she's the only democrat in the country that's actually running on health care, but I did it because I believe it's right for the future of our state."
Barr says he's unsure total repeal of the ACA will take place, but he believes there should be substantial modifications. "There's gonna be changes because it's simply unsustainable. There's too many Americans who have had their situation disrupted as a result of this law, as a result of the Affordable Care Act. Millions of people having their policies canceled," said Barr.
Jensen is confident the ACA will not be repealed. She says some adjustments may be made, but the focus needs to turn to other costs associated with healthcare. "We do need to understand better all of the costs that are involved in our healthcare, from the cost of the hospital overhead to pharmaceuticals, to how much they're spending for research and how much they're spending for advertising and yes those are all things that are important in the budget, but is there a way that we can work with them to bring down the actual cost of medical care in addition to just the cost of premiums," explained Jensen.
As Democrats work to retake the House, and Republicans aim for control of the Senate, this year's mid-term election could change the political makeup in Washington. Barr maintains a republican Senate could mean movement of hundreds of bills he says are currently sitting on Senate Speaker Harry Reid's desk.
"None of those bills, none of those solutions, many of them bipartisan solutions, have reached the president's desk. It's not an issue of a 'do nothing Congress.' This is a 'do nothing Senate.' So, if we have a epublican Senate, democrats and republicans in the Senate will be in a position to vote for some of these solutions," explained Barr.
On November 4th, we'll find out if incumbent Andy Barr will hold his seat, or if Kentuckians of the 6th district will send challenger Elisabeth Jensen to Congress.
