Adair County now has a new state senator.
Sen. David Givens now represents Adair County after Gov. Steve Beshear signed House Bill 1, changing Senate districts across the state. The bill moves Adair County from District 15 to District 9.
Sen. Vernie McGaha announced he would not be running for re-election earlier this year for personal reasons. McGaha represented Adair, Russell, Casey and Pulaski counties since 1996.
The senate-redistricting bill moves McGaha to District 16 and disbursed Adair, Russell, Casey and Pulaski counties among districts 9, 14 and 16.
Adair is now in the same district as Metcalfe, Barren, Allen, Simpson, Edmonton, Green and LaRue counties.
HB 1 included an emergency clause, which stipulates that the redistricting plan take effect immediately. As of Friday, Sen. Givens is Adair County’s representative in the Senate.
State Rep. Bam Carney’s District 51 will not be affected by the redistricting and he will remain the representative for Taylor and Adair counties.
ABOUT DAVID GIVENS
Givens is no stranger to the area. He is a managing partner for Central Farmers Supply in Greensburg. His family raises grain crops and beef cattle on their 150-acre farm in Green County.
Givens and his wife Lynne have three children. His wife is a teacher and coach at Green County High School.
He received a Bachelor of Science degree in agriculture and a Master of Arts in communications from Western Kentucky University.
Givens is involved in many organizations throughout the state. He is chairman of the Senate ag committee, vice chair of the Senate health and welfare committee, education committee, transportation committee, tobacco settlement agreement fund oversight committee, and the administrative regulations review.
He was elected to serve as the senator of District 9 in 2009.
CONGRESSIONAL
REDISTRICTING ON HOLD
While Gov. Beshear signed off on the Senate redistricting, the congressional redistricting plan is currently in limbo.
The redistricting plan, House Bill 2, has been passed by the Kentucky House of Representatives but has stalled in the Senate.
The plan will move Adair County’s congressional district from District 1 to District 2, Congressman Brett Guthrie’s district.
Congressman Ed Whitfield is District 1’s current representative and announced his bid for re-election two weeks ago.
ABOUT BRETT GUTHRIE
Guthrie has been the representative for District 2 since 2009. He is originally from Alabama, but currently lives in Bowling Green.
He represented District 32 in the Kentucky Senate for nine years and served on committees for economic development, tourism and labor committee and transportation committee.
He attended the United States Military Academy and Yale University.
CONTROVERSY ON THE HILL
Gov. Beshear said in a statement last week that he signed HB 1 because the filing registration deadline for the House and Senate is next week.
“I am signing House Bill 1 today so that all citizens interested in filing for any of these seats will know what House or Senate district they are in and have time to get their filing papers in order to file for office,” Gov. Beshear said. “This situation also reinforces my belief that before redistricting occurs again in Kentucky, some type of non-partisan, citizen-based group should be created to participate in the process.”
The Senate-redistricting plan has caused controversy across the state, pitting Democrats against Republicans.
HB 2 is at a stalemate because the Democrat-dominated House’s plan has put Republicans in a tough spot.
According to the Associated Press, Senate GOP leaders are pushing a proposal that leaves the congressional districts in roughly the same geographic areas, tweaked in a way that benefits Republicans. House Democrats want to reshape the largely rural District 1 in western Kentucky and District 5 in eastern Kentucky, which would favor Democrats.
See related column on issues involving the redistricting on page 4.
By Allison Hollon
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