Northup said repeatedly that there's no chance Ernie Fletcher can be reelected and republicans need a viable alternative as their nominee. Northup cited the damning grand jury report, Fletcher's pardons of "half of his administration", and a "plea bargain" to get out of criminal charges as reasons that Fletcher would get chewed up by a democratic opponent in the fall election.

Northup says she didn't consider running for governor until after her daughter's wedding in late December, which she says helped her family heal from their devastating 2006, when Northup's son and father died and she lost her reelection bid. Northup says "Mitch McConnell did not get me into this race", encouragement from republicans across Kentucky did, especially in Miami, when she attended U of L's Orange Bowl game.

On issues, Northup had a few surprises. Her stance on casino gambling mirrors Fletcher's.....she won't push for it believing the legislature and voters should decide the issue. She added that she voted against the lottery constitutional amendment when she was in the state legislature. On guns, Northup says she opposes any waiting period for any gun, believing background checks should be instantaneous. The Fletcher folks may try to spotlight (or distort) the big city candidates' gun votes. Northup says that would be "clutching at straws."
Northup also calls herself "pro-farmer" though she's viewed as anti-tobacco and anti-farmer in some parts of the state. Northup was almost a lone voice in the early 1990s, calling on Kentucky to quit bowing to tobacco companies use cigarette taxes to help farmers set up alternative crops. She was right but nearly every tobacco farmer in the state viewed her as the enemy. Northup voted for the final version of the tobacco buy out bill. On a statewide smoking ban, Northup says she opposes any effort to "impose change on a community". Northup says when attitudes change in Kentucky, voters will push for a statewide ban on smoking in public places, perhaps similar to the law Louisville recently passed.