Both Abramson and Luallen cited family considerations as the main reason for their decision not to seek the governor's office. That's probably true. While Abramson didn't shed much light on the behind-the-scenes politicking going on among the self proclaimed "white hat" Democrats to figure out who should be their ticket in '07, Luallen did shed some light.
She emphatically stated that Ben Chandler hasn't officially announced that he's staying in Washington. That led several reporters to speculate that Chandler may not be a lock to stay in Congress, as all of us assume. And Luallen says the dems need to come together around one ticket, to avoid a divisive primary. That's not going to happen. Steve Henry and Greg Stumbo are both considering a run for governor, both of whom are in a different faction from the Chandler/Jones/Luallen/Conway/McBrayer bunch. But without the Abramson or Luallen option, the democratic "white hats" faction may be stuck with Brereton Jones as their nominee. The white haired Terry McBrayer comes back into the picture and so does the young Jack Conway who could be considered a fresh face on the Kentucky political scene. if you want to see video and some soundbites from the Luallen and Abramson news conferences, watch for them on WHAS11.com's political page on Wednesday morning, Nov. 15th.