It hurts Gov. Steve Beshear's chances of getting a casino bill through the state senate. Those republican state senators who are up for reelection and worried that the governor would come after them hard if they wouldn't vote to put casinos on the ballot, will now sleep better at night. Brandon Smith faced down the casino monster and won.

Scott Alexander's endorsement from the Governor and Lt. Governor Dan Mongiardo meant little. I've always said voters don't care about endorsements. They're smart enough to think on their own. Look at Super Tuesday where Hillary Clinton won Massachusetts despite two Kennedys and the Massachusetts governor endorsing Barack Obama. Endorsements may be good for fundraising but do little to persuade voters, especially now when American voters are wearing the term "independent" on their sleeve.

Smith was just a better candidate. Voters in his new district probably didn't know much about Smith's reputation in Frankfort and Alexander either didn't want to tell them, or couldn't tell them, because of his own background. That made it a pretty clean race with Smith the more attractive candidate. All politics may be local but the republicans are sure to make this win look bigger than it probably is.