Kentucky Auditor of Public Accounts candidate John Kemper took the unprecedented step today of returning all campaign contributions from government officials who he may have to audit and then challenged his opponent to do the same.
Democratic candidate Adam Edelen was last seen hiding under his desk.
Edelen has run his campaign so far as the ultimate insider: a former chief of staff to Governor Steve Beshear with aspirations to higher office himself.
Edelen may return all his contributions in an attempt to eschew conflicts of interest he would face as Auditor, but he can't run away now from this power play he and Beshear so carefully engineered for themselves.
Kentuckians need to be able to depend on their Auditor to keep government officials accountable. Even when it means taking on the Governor. No one seriously believes John Kemper's insider opponent has any interest in doing that.
John Kemper is Kentucky's only chance to have an independent auditor for the next four years.
