Secretary of State Pokes Democrats, Warns Republicans
FANCY FARM, KY – Secretary of State Michael Adams gave the following speech Saturday, August 6, 2022 at Fancy Farm.
Hello, Fancy Farm! Can we get a happy birthday to my beautiful bride, Christina? Happy birthday sweetie.
Democrats! Welcome back! Be sure and try our local barbecue before you get back on that bus to Chicago or St. Louis!
We do have at least one Democrat here from Kentucky: state party chairman Colmon Elridge. Mr. Chairman, thank you for coming, and may I say, the Titanic could not have a finer captain.
I’m proud to serve as your Secretary of State. We’re running elections that are accessible, secure, and the envy of our nation. We’re taking steps to improve civic literacy, and here’s a reason why: studies show that nearly half of Kentuckians don’t know there are three branches of government. Even more concerning: one of those people is our governor!
I’m sorry not to see Governor Beshear or Lieutenant Governor Coleman here today. They see a gathering that is bipartisan but leans Republican, and they want nothing to do with it, conversing through the TV cameras rather than engaging directly. Fancy Farm, now you know how the legislature feels.
As we saw with his curiously timed announcement of a trip to the Middle East, the governor would literally rather be 6,000 miles away today, on another continent, than to be with any of us here in Western Kentucky. This disrespect for Fancy Farm perfectly encapsulates the Democratic Party’s disrespect for rural America. My Office recently announced that, for the first time in history, there are now more registered Republican voters than registered Democrats in Kentucky. The Democratic Party, the party of my forefathers, once was a great party, especially here in western Kentucky.
What changed? Democrats made three mistakes:
One, they disrespected rural voters, as we see today.
Two, they began attacking each other. Not smart.
And three, they became too extreme and left common sense behind.
There’s a lesson here for Republicans. There but for the grace of God go we. We have to listen to the people; we cannot attack each other; and we cannot turn our party over to the extremes, and lose touch with the common sense we find here in western Kentucky. Our party is growing because we’re letting people in; let’s not kick people out.
I’m glad we have such great candidates for governor here today. There’ll be more soon, I’m sure. I’m proud to call them all friends, and I look forward to supporting whoever is our nominee, and to the GOP sweeping all seven constitutional offices next year.
In 2023, I will stand again to be your Secretary of State. In my three years in office, we’ve taken Kentucky from the back of the pack to be a national leader in election integrity, with:
- Photo ID to Vote
- Cleaned-up voter rolls
- A ban on ballot harvesting
- Video surveillance of our ballot boxes, and
- Transition to paper ballots, so we always have the security of a paper trail.
- And, with early voting, we’ve ended a hundred years of voter suppression under the Democrats, making it easier for working people to vote.
I want to thank Senator Rand Paul for his strong support of our election reform bill – and state my strong support for reelecting Senator Rand Paul.
With these achievements, I have the most conservative record of any Secretary of State in America; but, I have not been partisan, or unfair, in my job; I have served all Kentuckians, and I always will.
Thank you Fancy Farm, and I’ll see you next year.
