New voice vs. 35 years in office: Senate Dems' leadership on line in key Louisville race

State Senate Minority Leader Gerald Neal, the Louisville Democrat who’s been in office since 1989, has plenty in common with Attica Scott, the lone challenger for his seat in the May 21 primary election.

Both were raised in the Beecher Terrace housing complex, where Russell meets downtown Louisville. Both are Black, with deep ties to Louisville’s West End and its substantial African American population. And both have experience in Frankfort — Scott served as a state representative from 2017-22, while Neal is seeking a 10th term in the Senate.

But Scott thinks Senate District 33 needs a new voice in office, one with fresh ideas and a "different way of leading," and one more willing to speak out against Republican supermajorities that are trying to "take over Louisville and Jefferson County."

"I choose to be a Democrat and I don't believe in conceding to Republicans who want to hurt Kentucky, which is exactly what they did this legislative session," Scott said last week in an interview at Blak Koffee.

"It takes more than showing up and voting 'no' or 'yes' on a piece of legislation. It matters when you stand on that floor and you're very clear about your why — why you're voting 'no' for something and why you're voting 'yes' for something. People care about that, because it's their voice that's being represented."

Neal has a different view of the 2024 General Assembly. Louisville scored plenty of wins in the new two-year budget, he contended, and with 35 years in office, building connections on both sides of the aisle, the veteran senator said some of those wins likely wouldn't have happened without him.

"There's no sense in stepping into that arena and think that you can take a wrench or a hammer or something like that and automatically get what you put on the table," he told The Courier Journal. "It is significant that you have and know how to develop relationships. It's key, because if you're disrespected or you don't know how to move in that arena, if you are closed to working across the aisle in very significant ways when you're in an extreme minority, then certainly that's not the place for you."

Both have notable names backing them in the primary for Senate District 33, which covers the West End along with Valley Station, downtown, Clifton and several other neighborhoods.

Scott, a frequent presence among protesters in 2020 following the police killing of Breonna Taylor, has an endorsement from the Democrat Socialists of America's Louisville branch and cited support from Metro Council members Shameka Parrish-Wright and Jecorey Arthur, as well as Jackie Floyd, an organizer from Russell who Scott said encouraged her to run.

Neal, meanwhile, has Gov. Andy Beshear in his corner, with In This Together PAC spokesman Eric Hyers citing the senator's "long track record of showing up and delivering for his community."

The two-term governor, the lone Democrat in statewide office, is joined in his support by Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg. And Neal said a number of other state legislators back him as well, along with activists such as Rhonda Mathis and Mattie Jones.

"I've been very consistent in terms of my constituency base and in terms of those things that I support and advocate for," Neal said. "But you've also got to bring back value, because although talk is important and advocacy is important, that doesn't mean that you bring value back necessarily to your constituency. At the end of the day, you have to ask yourself, and others have to ask, 'What value did you bring?'"

Dewey Clayton, a University of Louisville politics professor who's familiar with both candidates, pitched the race as one between an incumbent who's "done a lot of good for the city, the district and the state for that matter, and is a true liberal native son, a Kentucky native son," and a challenger who's "intelligent, politically savvy, probably a little less status quo than Gerald Neal, probably a little more willing to push the needle."

"Long-term incumbents don't typically get primary challengers," Western Kentucky University politics professor Jeffrey Budziak added in a separate interview. "If you're a 35-year incumbent senator, primary season tends to be pretty sleepy."

But this season, between two candidates with name recognition and unique qualities, is different.

Age and experience

Neal was born in 1945 and is the oldest member of the Kentucky Senate. He's 78 today and will be 79 by the time November's general election takes place.

That's what the numbers say, at least. Ask Neal about his age and he'll tell you he's 39.

"There are people that are 30, but they think and move like an 80-year-old person," Neal said. "I'm 39. I'm on time. I'm focused. I know my environment. I know the needs. I'm in the position to bring about results."

She's younger, but Scott has had years to build a reputation, as well. She's 52, a single mother who raised two children now in their 20s.

She hasn't made the race about Neal's age. "It may concern some people, but for me, I'm not going to go down that path," she said in response to a reporter's question.

It's a big departure from what you'll hear in ads and discussion about another notable election this year — the presidential race, between 81-year-old Democrat incumbent Joe Biden and his Republican challenger, 77-year-old Donald Trump.

Those candidates are different, though, Clayton noted.

GOP members have made a point to publicize instances in which Biden misspeaks or stumbles. The Republican National Committee's X account currently has a post pinned at the top of its page that includes a five-minute video exhibiting the president's "diminished mental fitness," which came after a highly publicized special counsel report was critical of Biden's memory. He and other Democrats have disputed the report's findings.

National Democrats, meanwhile, are quick to pounce when Trump goes off the rails at his rallies. The Biden campaign's rapid response team has promoted videos on its X account of the former president confusing Nancy Pelosi with Nikki Haley and has repeatedly noted the two candidates are separated by just four years in age.

You won't hear such comments about Neal, Clayton said. He's composed when he speaks and hasn't had any public "age-related problems."

It's tricky, Budziak added. As you gain experience, you get older. But older candidates have usually been in office for longer periods of time and have used those years to build ties with their constituents, which helps them raise money and come into a primary race as an "established brand." Without visible issues or public health scares, age doesn't often make a big difference to voters.

"People who are older often tend to be incumbents for a very long time," the WKU professor said. "Neal's a perfect example of this. He's been in politics a long time. He's done this stuff. So historically, it's very hard to tease out the benefits of incumbency versus maybe the downsides of age."

Neal said his record speaks for itself. Three and a half decades in Frankfort haven't slowed him down, he said.

"I've demonstrated my capacity of being effective, and I have more work to do," he said.

Still, Scott said she believes Neal's nine terms in office have been more than enough. She supports term limits, she told Spectrum News in January, and believes the district is ready for new leadership.

"Thirty-five years is a long time. It is time for change," she said. "You know, thank you for your service, Sen. Neal, but it's time for other people to serve and bring some new ideas to the state legislature in a new and different way of leading."

The case for the candidates

Scott's message promoting change in Frankfort resonates with voters like Louis Brown Torres, a local contractor in his 60s.

He supports Scott because she's a woman who is "not afraid to speak truth to power, which is a quality that's kind of hard-pressed to have." He appreciates the 35 years Neal has invested, but Torres believes it's "time to pass through and pass the baton."

"I'm looking for progress, and here in Kentucky especially, it's the same old, the same old, the same old," he said. "I want to see some new ideas. I want to see some passion out there. I'm promoting any young person that has integrity, who's willing to fight and change the status quo."

Parrish-Wright, a Louisville Metro Council member who represents portions of the West End, has seen Scott's fight in action. She's voted for Neal in every election since she moved to Louisville, she said, and agrees with his politics.

"I do believe in a changing of the guard," she said, "(but) I think he's been an amazing guard for all these years."

Scott, though, won her over with her energy during her time as a state representative, with "a proven track record of showing up not just all over Louisville and Jefferson County but all over the state." They became closer during the 2020 protests, a tumultuous time for the city and for the candidate.

Scott and her daughter were arrested alongside Parrish-Wright and several other protesters that September and charged with first-degree rioting after a library window was broken and a flare was thrown inside during a demonstration.

All of the charges were dropped weeks later in November, and the trio who were arrested sued several Louisville Metro Police officers over the incident in June 2021. That case is still pending in Jefferson Circuit Court.

The following month, Scott announced she planned to give up her Kentucky House seat and run a primary race against U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth, a Louisville Democrat who had represented the region since 2007. That October, though, Yarmuth announced he would retire, and then-state Senate Minority Leader Morgan McGarvey, a Louisville Democrat, announced that same day he would also run for Yarmuth's seat.

McGarvey defeated Scott in the primary, racking up about two-thirds of the total vote, and went on to win in the general election.

More from 2022: Handpicked? Too little support? Behind-the-scenes on Attica Scott vs. Morgan McGarvey

Scott has spent time since then as director of special projects for the Forward Justice Action Network, a nonprofit that promotes "racial, social, and economic justice" in southern states. But while Clayton said some may view Scott as someone who wasn't a "true party player" by announcing her primary plans before Yarmuth said he would retire, the candidate said she'd heard from several former constituents in the past year who have encouraged her to run for Neal's seat.

"What does the past decade look like for us? Maybe 25, 30 years ago there may have been a lot that he was doing, but what does it look like in the past decade?" Scott said. "Folks haven't been able to answer to me what he's done for us except being a publicly elected official. He keeps saying, 'I'm working behind the scenes, I'm working privately behind the scenes.' That's not what we elected you to do."

Neal said he's always been willing to fight for what's right. He's said he was arrested 11 times as a juvenile during Civil Rights protests in the 1960s.

He's also respected by Republicans in Frankfort, including outgoing GOP Senate Majority Leader Damon Thayer, who called Neal "my good friend now for 21 years and counting" during a January event at the Capitol. He has an ally in Louisville's mayor, as well.

"(Neal) is a tremendous, positive leader for Louisville and our commonwealth and has consistently delivered real results for his constituents and our community," Greenberg said recently in a statement.

Neal said his across-the-aisle work this year helped Jefferson County land funding for projects including Belvedere and Louisville Gardens renovations, the Butchertown sports district, money for the Louisville Orchestra — "a gem in our community" — and other projects in the two-year state budget put together by Republicans. And he said his years of service helped the state launch the Kentucky Children's Health Insurance Program, a highlight of his decades in office.

The two candidates had been set to speak publicly Thursday in a community forum at the Portland Community Center but the event was canceled. And with the General Assembly gaveling out for the year on Monday, Neal said he's excited to get back to Louisville and shift into campaign mode as he pushes for four more years.

"It's a tough job, because I'm not going to compromise what is right. I'm not going to do it," he said. "But I think when you cut off the ability to communicate effectively, then you really cut off opportunity for us all."

Reach Lucas Aulbach at laulbach@courier-journal.com.

A third name on the ballot

Scott and Neal will appear on the ballot alongside Michael Churchill Jr., who filed to enter the race in January. However, last week Churchill told The Courier Journal he plans to suspend his campaign. If he withdraws from the race, his name will remain on the ballot but voters will be notified at polling locations and no vote totals will be tallied. Churchill plans to support Scott in the race, he said.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky primary election: Key race pits Gerald Neal vs. Attica Scott